The use of data warehouses in the healthcare sector

Abstract

This paper reviews the use of data warehouses (DWs) in the health sector. It begins by defining what a DW is and considers the reasons for implementing one in a general environment, together with related issues and other concerns. It compares the DW with online transaction process (OLTP) systems. In the second part, three case studies are presented on how a DW can be applied in the health sector. The three cases are of a different nature: private and public hospitals and a governmental institution. The authors have studied how these institutions have made use of implementing this technical solution in a health environment. Differences between the US and Europe are found when reviewing literature, with the former leading in the commercial health sector. There are, however, important initiatives taking off in the European healthcare sector involving this technology. In the last section an analysis is carried out on what the benefits and the concerns are when making use of a DW in these environments. The authors’ conclusions are that DWs are still not widely used in the health sector and implementing one takes a considerable amount of time, effort and understanding of the impacts of managing one. A DW, is, however, perfectly applicable and can be of great benefit to a healthcare organization as long as confidentiality and security issues are addressed correctly and balanced to get the most out of the DW potential. © 2002, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.