Big Data: Shaping the healthcare industry

4

October

2016

5/5 (2)

For decades, the basis of nearly every medical discovery and research has been about the collection and analysis of data: who gets sick, why do they get sick and why. However, big data has enabled the potential for enormous breakthroughs in this sector.

A recent example of this is, is a study conducted by computer scientists of the Free University in Amsterdam in collaboration with the University Medical Centre Utrecht, which found a new predictor for intestine cancer. The computer scientists looked for distinctive patterns in 263.000 (anonymised) electronic patient records, of which 1292 received the diagnosis of intestine cancer. They compared both groups (cancer versus no cancer) by allowing software to search for the differences in the run-up to the diagnosis. The research has reconfirmed previously known predictors (iron deficiency, age, and constipation) and found one new one: metabolic syndrome, which is a metabolic disorder.

The technique used in this research will, in the near future allow a risk calculation at the desk of the doctor’s office, based on routine patient information of an individual with intestinal complaints. This can help in the decision whether to have the patient examined further or not.

The strength of this new predictive model is that the software uses the electronic patient records data without any bias. It is not programmed in a way to search for specific predictors, as is usually the case in medical research based on data analysis. This causes the model to be applicable on all kinds of data, and therefore it has enormous potential to enhance disease prediction in other diseases, making early detection and intervention possible.
Big data has been known to be beneficial in many industries, often allowing companies to achieve substantial competitive advantage. However, its potential and importance in the healthcare industry exceeds those of other industries since it can actually save lives.

References:

Kop, R., Hoogendoorn, M., Teije, A. T., Büchner, F. L., Slottje, P., Moons, L. M., & Numans, M. E. (2016). Predictive modeling of colorectal cancer using a dedicated pre-processing pipeline on routine electronic medical records. Computers in Biology and Medicine, 76, 30-38. doi:10.1016/j.compbiomed.2016.06.019

 

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The rise of the Platform Economy

27

September

2016

5/5 (1)

Technological enterprises and companies that started in the digital age, such as Google, Alibaba, and Amazon have understood the power of digital technologies. However, most of these companies’ disruptive innovations are not services or products, they are in fact the platforms that form the foundation for these products and service. This is called a platform-based business model and it changes the way how companies can do business. It results in a system that does much of the work to grow the company (quickly) by itself.

The three main reasons for the success of these platform-based business models are:

  1. Network effects: This exists when two user groups (in most cases, consumer, and producer) generate network value for each other, resulting in joint benefits that increase demand-side economies of scale. The network effects of these platforms, with increasing connected transactions and users, push value creation.
  2. Distribution power law: Platform business models enable a much larger scale. This is done by allowing third parties to sell products in the long tail, avoiding diminishing returns usually associated with these products. E.g. Amazon is able to offer books very specifically tailored for a niche market that would never be sold in regular book shops.
  3. Asymmetric growth: This is the principle of driving demand for their core market through complementary markets, by subsidizing these, or even offering them for free, to users. An example of this is Adobe offering their PDF readers for free to its users. Because of the resulting increased use of Adobe’s pdf reader, producers are willing to pay more to be able to distribute PDF files.

Accenture’s Technology Vision 2016 names platform economy as one of the key trends to watch. It mentions that every company will, eventually, need a platform strategy. They will need such a strategy not only for the growth of their business, but also to be able to fight off the platform-based competition.

 

Sources:

Technology Trends 2016 – Accenture Technology Vision. Retrieved September 26, 2016, from https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-technology-trends-2016

 

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