ABSTRACT
In the business world, leaders use the terms big data and business intelligence. Healthcare analytics or healthcare informatics are actually terms for the same thing. Data collection and aggregation provide an opportunity to look for patterns and based on these patterns to make decisions to improve quality and decrease costs. The driver of this change comes from the payment shift from volume to value inherent in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). It augments the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which requires the implementation of electronic medical records (EMRs).
