Health Analytics Types, Functions and Levels: A Review of Literature

Health analytics is a business-driven term that encompasses a wide spectrum of aspects and dimensions of business intelligence applications and big data analysis. Healthcare organizations recently are eager to know whether they are getting the full value from the massive amounts of data and information they already have, to achieve their strategic effectiveness goals and operational efficiency objectives. It is very crucial to learn more about the diverse functions, types and levels through which health analytics can support such tasks. A careful review of literature was conducted, and a qualitative analysis was used to classify health analytics. Five main types of analytics could be identified; these are descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, prescriptive and discovery analytics, each has its own distinct role in improving healthcare. In addition to the five types, health analytics could also be classified into three levels of performance and engagement, these are the operational, tactical and strategic health analytics.