Big Data: More than Just Big and More than Just Data

According to an report, 90 percent of the data in the world today were created in the past two years. This statistic is not surprising given the explosion of mobile phones and other devices that generate data, the Internet of Things (e.g., smart refrigerators), and metadata (data about data). While it might be a stretch to figure out how a healthcare organization can use data generated from an ice maker, data from a plethora of rich and useful sources, when combined with an organization's own data, can produce improved results. How can healthcare organizations leverage these rich and diverse data sources to improve patients' health and make their businesses more competitive? The authors of the two feature articles in this issue of Frontiers provide tangible examples of how their organizations are using big data to meaningfully improve healthcare. Sentara Healthcare and Carolinas HealthCare System both use big data in creative ways that differ because of different business situations, yet are also similar in certain respects.