Beyond a Technical Perspective: Understanding Big Data Capabilities in Health Care

To date, the health care industry has paid little attention to the potential benefits to be gained from big data. While most pioneering big data studies have adopted technological perspectives, a better understanding of the strategic implications of big data is urgently needed. To address this lack, this study examines the development, architecture and component functionalities of big data, and identifies its capabilities, including traceability, the analysis of unstructured data and patterns of care, and its predictive capacity to support healthcare managers seeking to formulate more effective big-data-based strategies. Our findings will help healthcare organizations respond strategically to the challenges they face in today's highly competitive healthcare market.