Big Data Analytics Best Practices: Understanding its capabilities and potential benefits for healthcare organizations​

To date, the health care industry has not fully grasped the potential benefits to be gained from big data analytics. While the constantly growing body of academic research on big data analytics is mostly technology oriented, a better understanding of the strategic implications of big data is urgently needed. To address this lack, this study examines the historical development, architectural design and component functionalities of big data analytics. From content analysis of 26 big data implementation cases in healthcare, we were able to identify five big data analytics capabilities: analytical capability for patterns of care, unstructured data analytical capability, decision support capability, predictive capability, and traceability. We also mapped the benefits driven by big data analytics in terms of information technology (IT) infrastructure, operational, organizational, managerial and strategic areas. In addition, we recommend five strategies for healthcare organizations that are considering to adopt big data analytics technologies. Our findings will help healthcare organizations understand the big data analytics capabilities and potential benefits and support them seeking to formulate more effective data-driven analytics strategies.

Best Practices

• Governance - Implementing big data governance successfully can allow for more efficient utilization of data
• Sharing - Developing an information sharing culture improves quality and accuracy 
• Training - Training key personnel to use big data analytics is the key to utilizing outputs effectively
• Cloud computing - Incorporating cloud computing into the organization's big data analytics can help address cost and data storage issues.  However, this must be balanced with patient information protection
• New ideas - Generating new business ideas from big data analytics promotes innovation, productivity, and competitiveness  

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