Big Data Challenges from a Healthcare Administration Perspective

Abstract

The role and responsibility of administration leadership in healthcare systems is to execute on the strategic directions set by the governance bodies. It is the leaderships responsibility to translate the strategic directions into the operations of health care delivery. Administration and its leaders serve as the nexus between the overarching governance responsibilities and the provision of health care services to the citizens and patients. Administrators are held accountable by the governance bodies to plan, assemble, deliver, manage, evaluate and generally execute on meeting the health care needs of their communities. The emergence of big data holds great promise for enabling administrators to carry out their responsibilities more effectively. At the same time the lack of infrastructure, competence, and capability can create great peril for the negative consequences that may emerge if a critical approach to the introduction of big data is not undertaken. The chapter builds on the previous chapter on governance outlining the primary responsibilities leaders must fulfill in respect to meeting the healthcare needs of their citizens and patients. The opportunities and challenges for big data in helping administrators address population health, accessibility to service, safety, worklife, client-centered service, continuity of care, appropriateness and efficiency are reviewed in turn. Observations and recommendations for dealing with the challenges of big data are made.