Big data is a relatively new tool being used in healthcare. The possibilities big data has to offer in terms of providing quality treatment for patients is still not known. Trying to harness the vast amount of information may take years before we can fully realize how to use big data and manipulate the information into neat categories without utilizing much effort from people (Thew, 2016). Learning how to program the system to work in lieu of human attention is what will create the next breakthrough in information technology.
One of the biggest benefits associated with big data is the availability of information across multiple professions within minutes, and sometimes seconds. Non longer do we have to use time and space consuming paper filing to store a patient’s information. Not only was it time consuming to file information but updating was more difficult. Maintaining a system where each patient file could be located for what might be a minor update or small amount of information is costly, as well. Now we can store more patient information than ever with the capability of updating and adding information simultaneously with other healthcare workers (Wang, Kung & Byrd, 2018). Patient information may also be accessed at the same time someone else is accessing it, so nobody can hoard the information from someone else.
A challenge we are experiencing with big data is learning how to use it in a structure that does not create as much manpower to categorize the data. We have not been able to design the system to allocate the information in categories that make sense. Although big data has simplified the storage component of information, programs are still not able to ‘think’ like humans and categorize information. So far, we have been unable to create an algorithm to make systems more efficient and interactive (Dash et al., 2019). Once we are able to accomplish this, the road for artificial intelligence may be the next goal in data sharing.