Business Intelligence in Healthcare with IBM Watson Analytics

Book excerpt: Healthcare generates enormous amounts of data. Left unstructured and unanalyzed, this data does little to help hospitals and healthcare facilities offer better care or develop more effective practices. "Big data" isn't an issue confined to the healthcare industry-many other industries struggle to capitalize on the possibilities lurking within unmined data. In response to this need, analytical software such as IBM(R) Watson(TM)Analytics has become vital for long-term success. Working with a sample Medicaid data set, business intelligence experts Dr. Shilpa Balan and Dr. Joseph Otto reveal how to use IBM Watson Analytics to analyze healthcare data and transform unstructured data into actionable information. Balan and Otto break down the complex task of data analysis into easily understood sections, demonstrating vital aspects of data set analysis, such as creating a cloud-based data environment, data refinement, data exploration, predictive analytics, dashboard building, and social media data analysis. Used correctly, healthcare data sets can provide valuable insight into costs and claims, research and development, patient behavior, and medical records. Let Balan and Otto provide your facility with the data analysis techniques and skills needed to uncover the secrets of your facility's data collection.