Big Data in Healthcare

Healthcare industry has not been quick enough to adapt to the big data movement compared to other industries. Therefore, big data usage in the healthcare sector is still in its infancy. For example, healthcare and biomedical big data have not yet converged to enhance healthcare data with molecular pathology. Such convergence can help unravel various mechanisms of action or other aspects of predictive biology. Therefore, to assess an individual's health status, biomolecular and clinical datasets need to be married. One such source of clinical data in healthcare is 'internet of things' (IoT).

In fact, IoT is another big player implemented in a number of other industries including healthcare. Until recently, the objects of common use such as cars, watches, refrigerators and health-monitoring devices, did not usually produce or handle data and lacked internet connectivity. However, furnishing such objects with computer chips and sensors that enable data collection and transmission over internet has opened new avenues. The device technologies such as Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tags and readers, and Near Field Communication (NFC) devices, that can not only gather information but interact physically, are being increasingly used as the information and communication systems. This enables objects with RFID or NFC to communicate and function as a web of smart things. The analysis of data collected from these chips or sensors may reveal critical information that might be beneficial in improving lifestyle, establishing measures for energy conservation, improving transportation, and healthcare. In fact, IoT has become a rising movement in the field of healthcare. IoT devices create a continuous stream of data while monitoring the health of people (or patients) which makes these devices a major contributor to big data in healthcare. Such resources can interconnect various devices to provide a reliable, effective and smart healthcare service to the elderly and patients with a chronic illness.

Advantages of IoT in healthcare

Using the web of IoT devices, a doctor can measure and monitor various parameters from his/her clients in their respective locations for example, home or office. Therefore, through early intervention and treatment, a patient might not need hospitalization or even visit the doctor resulting in significant cost reduction in healthcare expenses. Some examples of IoT devices used in healthcare include fitness or health-tracking wearable devices, biosensors, clinical devices for monitoring vital signs, and others types of devices or clinical instruments. Such IoT devices generate a large amount of health related data. If we can integrate this data with other existing healthcare data like EMRs or PHRs, we can predict a patients' health status and its progression from subclinical to pathological state. In fact, big data generated from IoT has been quiet advantageous in several areas in offering better investigation and predictions. On a larger scale, the data from such devices can help in personnel health monitoring, modelling the spread of a disease and finding ways to contain a particular disease outbreak.

The analysis of data from IoT would require an updated operating software because of its specific nature along with advanced hardware and software applications. We would need to manage data inflow from IoT instruments in real-time and analyze it by the minute. Associates in the healthcare system are trying to trim down the cost and ameliorate the quality of care by applying advanced analytics to both internally and externally generated data.

Mobile computing and mobile health (mHealth)

In today's digital world, every individual seems to be obsessed to track their fitness and health statistics using the in-built pedometer of their portable and wearable devices such as, smartphones, smartwatches, fitness dashboards or tablets. With an increasingly mobile society in almost all aspects of life, the healthcare infrastructure needs remodeling to accommodate mobile devices. The practice of medicine and public health using mobile devices, known as mHealth or mobile health, pervades different degrees of health care especially for chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cancer. Healthcare organizations are increasingly using mobile health and wellness services for implementing novel and innovative ways to provide care and coordinate health as well as wellness. Mobile platforms can improve healthcare by accelerating interactive communication between patients and healthcare providers. In fact, Apple and Google have developed devoted platforms like Apple's ResearchKit and Google Fit for developing research applications for fitness and health statistics. These applications support seamless interaction with various consumer devices and embedded sensors for data integration. These apps help the doctors to have direct access to your overall health data. Both the user and their doctors get to know the real-time status of your body. These apps and smart devices also help by improving our wellness planning and encouraging healthy lifestyles. The users or patients can become advocates for their own health.