Big data in healthcare is overwhelming not only because of its volume but also because of its diversity (clinical and financial). With understanding the trends and the patterns within the data, healthcare systems can improve the quality care of patients and curb healthcare costs. The pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies are harnessing the power of big data for product cross-selling, financial risk management, regulatory compliance management, and others. Big data analytics in pharmaceutical manufacturing will also help to better the forecast production demand, understand the plant’s performance, and provide faster support services to the customers.

Health data has been growing at unprecedented rates, driven by fall in storage costs, the emergence of cloud storage, growing regulatory mandates, and the increasing government initiatives to promote the adoption of healthcare information systems. The increasing adoption of wearable devices, at-home testing services, and mhealth applications that are empowering patients to proactively manage their health is further contributing to the pool of personal data. The availability of large volumes of health information has paved way for massive advances in clinical research, development of precision medicine and clinical decision support tools, quicker drug discovery, and more detailed view of population health, which has opened new arrays for managing chronic diseases.