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Healthcare Gadget Revolution in the Age of Big Data
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May 26, 2016 - 12:32:51 PM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - As the healthcare industry continues to grow big data collection becomes a more involved factor in healthcare data management and healthcare analytics. Using a bevy of EHR/EMR tools, EDW systems, reporting software and more, analyst groups, such as the Epic Consultants at Syntrix Consulting, can turn raw data into strategic action. Creating actionable business decisions out of raw data takes time, but so does collecting that raw data itself. EHRs commonly use demographic information reported from patients, lab and test results, administrative and billing data, progress notes and diagnoses left by physicians, allergy reports, immunization dates, medication lists, and even radiology images. Until recently, it was assumed that EHRs couldn't get more comprehensive in the amount of data that they provided, but the advent and adoption of wearable health devices stand to shake up healthcare data collection and improve healthcare outcomes yet again.

What are wearables? Webopedia has the basic definition:

"Wearable technology (also called wearable gadgets) is a category of technology devices that can be worn by a consumer and often include tracking information related to health and fitness. Other wearable tech gadgets include devices that have small motion sensors to take photos and sync with your mobile devices."

We've covered the expansive growth of wearable gadgets and potential application in various uses. As the field of wearable devices continues to skyrocket, they have the potential to alter how we view health care by providing by the minute status updates on patient's health conditions. It seems farfetched, but just think of some of the devices that are available right now and how they are used in collecting various forms of health data:

Consider the Telcare BGM (blood glucose meter), for example. This cellular device enables a diabetic patient to record their blood sugar levels and transmit them to a cloud server instantly. That server information can be relayed to a physician so that they can better manage entire populations of individuals with this chronic disease at a reduced cost. In a world with so many in need of care, limiting the number of times an individual must travel to the physician's office just for advice is greatly beneficial.

How about the Automatic Ingestion Monitor (AIM)? The revolutionary device, worn on the ear, tracks what a person eats using a photographic data and a chewing sensor. The imagery taken by the camera estimates the mass and energy content of the meal, while the sensor detects motion from the jaw to further refine the analysis. It could shift the current method of estimating diet and nutritional intake, self-reporting, to a more accurate computer-based model, helping users better control nutrient consumption and control weight gain, and giving physicians better insight into their patient's nutritional choices.

The mind shouldn't be ignored, which is where devices like Muse come in. Like a "heart rate monitor for your brain", the device uses a series of electroencephalography (EEG) sensors to detect and measure brain activity. It can sense whether you are focused or distracted, and can pair with a smartphone app to deliver feedback to keep you on task. The data can also be uploaded to a cloud server, and the value to a physician to read your brain state is quite evident.

As a kind of pair to that, there's also a device known as Olive, which uses skin temperature and heart rate sensors to detect patient stress levels. It also notifies users when their stress levels are too high, and can remind them to engage in stress relief activities to mitigate the negative effects of excessive stress. An obvious blessing, as stress is one of the primary compounding factors in other health problems, and access to what is making patients stressed can allow physicians to develop better long-term strategies for negating stress and its ill effects.

It should be clear that with all of these devices the future of healthcare is turning the plethora of collectible data into actionable advice for patients and solid analytics for caregivers in an effort to not only provide increased levels of care, but to use healthcare data management to make sense of the gigantic data footprint and distill the sea of information down to what is reliable and meaningful for sound business decisions.

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