Addressing Health Systems' Crucial Goals Through Data Engineering

In 2024, data plays a more and more significant role in the healthcare sector, and organizations have to adapt to regulating data through data engineering. Using data in healthcare brings issues with data quality, interoperability, security, scalability, data integration, and staff education.

Luckily, all of these challenges can be solved using healthcare data engineering. This article provides a roadmap of how data engineering is used in healthcare, including benefits, challenges, and potential solutions to these challenges.

Advantages of data engineering in healthcare

1. Improving patient care quality: Effective data engineering ensures healthcare providers have timely access to comprehensive and accurate patient data. This can improve diagnostic accuracy, personalized treatment plans, and patient outcomes.
2. Reducing costs: Data engineering in healthcare can help facilities reduce operational costs by optimizing data flow and improving resource management. It also minimizes the need for redundant tests and procedures, helps streamline workflows, and reduces various administrative burdens on effective care.
3. Improving treatment outcomes: With advanced analytics, healthcare providers can more accurately predict patient risks, customize treatment plans, and monitor patients more effectively. This leads to better disease management and higher success rates in treatments and procedures.
4. Increasing efficiency: Data engineering in healthcare automates many routine tasks, from patient scheduling to inventory management. This increases the efficiency of healthcare operations and allows clinical staff to focus more on patient care rather than administrative tasks.
5. Fostering innovation: Data engineering supports research and development by providing researchers with clean, well-organized data. This facilitates faster discoveries and innovations in medical technology, treatments, and patient care strategies.

10 common use cases of data engineering in healthcare

Here are the ten most common examples of data engineering for healthcare:

1. Critical care

• Real-time data monitoring: Data engineering for healthcare supports systems that continuously monitor and analyze patient vital signs and other critical metrics. These systems can trigger alerts for healthcare professionals if a patient's condition deteriorates, enabling immediate intervention.
• Integration of devices and systems: Ensuring that all monitoring devices and health record systems communicate seamlessly is crucial in critical care. Data engineering in healthcare facilitates this integration.

2. Staff management

• Optimized scheduling: By analyzing patterns in patient admissions and peak times, data engineers can develop algorithms to predict staffing needs. In this way, healthcare organizations can ensure enough healthcare professionals are available during busy periods while avoiding unnecessary staffing during quieter times.
• Performance analysis: Data engineering tools can also track the performance and efficiency of staff. This helps hospitals and clinics to implement improvements and training where needed.

3. Global health strategies

• Epidemiological tracking: For global health, data engineering helps track the spread of diseases across different regions and populations. This is vital for implementing timely interventions and allocating resources effectively.
• Resource allocation: By analyzing health data on a global scale, data engineers help international health organizations identify areas needing medical supplies, vaccines, or more healthcare workers.

4. Data cleaning and preparation

• Ensuring data quality: Data engineers implement various techniques to clean and standardize healthcare data, removing duplicates, correcting errors, and filling missing values, which are crucial for accurate analysis.
• Data standardization: Transforming data from various sources into a common format is essential for effective data integration and analysis, helping healthcare providers to make informed decisions.

5. Creation and maintenance of data pipelines

• Automated workflows: Data pipelines automate data flow from collection points to storage and analysis systems. Data engineers ensure these pipelines are efficient, reliable, and capable of handling large volumes of data without loss or delay.
• Maintenance and upgrades: Regular updates and maintenance of data pipelines are necessary to adapt to new technologies and data types. Regular maintenance helps ensure the healthcare system remains current and functional.

6. Collection and integration of data from various sources

• Unified healthcare records: Integrating data from disparate sources into a single, accessible record for each patient ensures that healthcare providers have all the necessary information to make the best care decisions.
• Interoperability: Data engineering focuses on the interoperability of systems, allowing different healthcare applications and databases to work together seamlessly.

7. Predictive analytics for patient care

• Risk assessment: By analyzing patterns in patient data, predictive models can identify individuals at higher risk of developing certain conditions. As a result of this assessment, physicians can implement preventative care.
• Outcome prediction: These models also help predict outcomes for various treatments and assist doctors in choosing the most effective treatment plans.

8. Regulatory compliance and data security

• Compliance monitoring: Data engineers ensure that all data processes comply with health data regulations, such as HIPAA , in the US.
• Security measures: Implementing advanced security protocols and encryption to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access and breaches.

9. Enhancing research and clinical trials

• Data management for trials: Managing the vast amounts of data generated during clinical trials is crucial. Data engineers develop systems to collect, store, and analyze this data efficiently.
• Participant selection: Algorithms can help identify and recruit participants who meet specific criteria for clinical trials, increasing the speed and efficiency of research.

10. Telehealth and remote monitoring

• Data collection from remote devices: Patients using wearable health devices or home monitoring equipment generate significant amounts of data. Data engineering ensures this data is accurately collected and transmitted securely to healthcare providers.
• Analysis and intervention: Analyzing remote monitoring data can provide insights into patient health trends, enabling proactive care and timely interventions by healthcare providers.

Challenges of data engineering in healthcare

Implementing data engineering in the healthcare sector comes with a set of challenges. Solving these issues is possible but requires resources and a comprehensive strategy. Let's examine some typical problems and ways to solve them.

Data quality

• Issues:

Healthcare data often comes from various sources, including errors or inconsistencies. In settings like critical care, data must be processed in real time, which requires highly reliable and error-free data streams.

Physicians need access to real-time data to make informed decisions about critical care. Providing that data is a challenge in itself. Any quality issues can have immediate negative impacts on patient care.

• Solutions:

Automated data validation, anomaly detection, and cleaning tools can help ensure data quality. Also, implementing real-time analytics platforms like Apache Kafka and stream processing frameworks like Apache Flink can provide reliable real-time data processing. Finally, machine learning algorithms can help detect and correct data stream anomalies.

Data integration

• Issues:

Healthcare data is collected from multiple sources, including electronic health records (EHRs), medical devices, and patient self-reports. Integrating these diverse data types into a cohesive system is complex and challenging as they have different formats and sources.

Another area for improvement with data integration is legacy systems. Many healthcare institutions still use outdated technology that is not designed to interact seamlessly with modern data systems.

• Solutions:

Healthcare organizations should embrace standards like HL7 FHIR for seamless data exchange. ETL tools are also helpful: Modern ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tools such as Talend and Informatica can help integrate data from various sources. You can also use APIs to integrate legacy systems with modern platforms.

Skills and knowledge

• Issues:

There is a high demand for data engineers with specific knowledge of healthcare applications. The shortage of professionals who understand both data science and healthcare's particular needs can limit the speed and scope of data-driven initiatives.

Moreover, keeping up with the rapid developments in data technology and healthcare regulations requires continuous training and professional development, which can be resource-intensive.

• Solutions:

An obvious yet resource-consuming solution is investing in programs that train data engineers in healthcare specifics and vice versa. If training in-house engineers is too time-consuming for your organization, working with a company like Binariks is an excellent solution.

Regulations

• Issues:

Healthcare data is certainly very sensitive, and data engineers must ensure that all data practices comply with stringent regulations like HIPAA in the U.S. and GDPR in Europe.

For global health initiatives, differing regulations across countries can complicate the sharing and processing of healthcare data. Adhering to rules requires constant monitoring and adjustments.

• Solutions:

Developers like Binariks help ensure compliance, such as data masking and encryption solutions. They can also establish systems that continuously monitor data practices for compliance. Having dedicated legal teams to stay updated on regulations also helps.

Interoperability

• Issues:

Lack of standardization across health IT systems can prevent effective communication and data exchange. Promoting and adopting universal data standards like FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) can be slow and uneven across healthcare providers.

• Solutions:

Implementing middleware that can translate and integrate data between disparate systems can be very useful.

Data security

• Issues:

Protecting healthcare data from breaches and cyber attacks is crucial. Data engineers must continuously update security measures to defend against evolving threats.

Ensuring patient data is handled securely is essential for maintaining patient trust, a foundational aspect of healthcare services. What is more, data security answers to different standards in every country.

• Solutions:

Implementing robust encryption methods for data at rest and in transit really helps solve security issues. The same applies to adopting comprehensive cybersecurity frameworks like NIST and conducting regular audits and vulnerability assessments.

Scalability

• Issues:

Healthcare data has the potential to grow exponentially, especially with the adoption of new healthcare technologies. Therefore, the data engineering strategy in healthcare should always account for scalability.

• Solutions:

One of the ways to solve this issue is to move the healthcare infrastructure to the cloud. However, the migration to the cloud also has its challenges. Despite the potential problems, the cloud is the best solution for scalability challenges.

Other routes towards better scalability within the data engineering strategy in healthcare include using technologies like Docker and Kubernetes for scalable and portable environments or implementing data lakes to manage large volumes of structured and unstructured data.

Future data engineering trends

Future data engineering trends will assist with addressing existing issues in healthcare through data engineering. Here's what to expect:

Advanced AI and Machine Learning

AI and machine learning will continue to evolve towards more accurate predictive analytics and personalized treatment plans based on patient data. Enhanced NLP capabilities will improve the extraction and analysis of unstructured data from clinical notes and patient records. This will lead to more precise and personalized treatment plans, automation of routine tasks, and better resource allocation.

Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)

The proliferation of connected medical devices (IoMT ) will generate vast amounts of real-time data from wearables, implants, and other monitoring devices. In the future, we can expect Increased use of remote patient monitoring systems to track health metrics outside clinical settings.

Blockchain technology

Blockchain technology will be increasingly adopted for the security of healthcare data. This will lead to decentralized health records where patients have more control over their data.

Interoperability and data standardization

An increased adoption of universal data standards like FHIR to promote interoperability across systems is expected. Emphasis on API-first strategies to ensure seamless data exchange between different healthcare platforms is also a trend for the rest of the decade.

In addition to these trends, we can expect a more significant role in real-time analytics, big data , robotics, and AR/VR tools.

Solutions & platforms for data engineering

Data engineering for healthcare requires significant resources, but most solutions don't have to be developed from scratch. Below is a comprehensive list of platforms that support data engineering in healthcare.

Data integration platforms

Data integration platforms help consolidate data from different sources into a single comprehensive system, which is crucial for interoperability.

• Informatica: Informatica is a well-regarded platform in cloud data management. It provides robust solutions for data integration, quality, and governance. The tools are well-suited for handling complex healthcare systems, including EHR systems, medical imaging systems, and other comprehensive software,
• MuleSoft: MuleSoft connects applications, data, and devices on-premises and in the cloud. MuleSoft is more focused on API-led connectivity.

Data management and analytics platforms

These platforms focus on the storage, management, and analysis of data. If you want to maintain clean, high-quality data for analysis, these platforms are the key, as they help turn complex datasets into actionable insights.

• Talend: Talend provides comprehensive data integration and data integrity solutions. It helps healthcare organizations ensure the reliability and cleanliness of their data.
• Tableau: Tableau is a leading data visualization tool that assists healthcare organizations in transforming complex data into actionable insights. It is focused precisely on data visualizations.

Cloud data warehouses

These are the platforms that primarily focus on data storage.

• Snowflake: Snowflake's cloud data platform is highly scalable and secure. It is ideal for handling the large volumes of data seen in healthcare. Snowflake supports collaborative environments by enabling secure data sharing.
• Google BigQuery: Google BigQuery is a fully managed cloud data warehouse that supports fast SQL queries, making it suitable for the analytical demands of large healthcare datasets. Its scalability and performance are particularly beneficial for healthcare data analysis.

Big data platforms

Big data platforms are used to process and analyze large datasets that are often diverse and complex. In healthcare, these platforms help manage data from various sources, including patient records, imaging data, and genomic information. They are capable of handling both batch processing and real-time analytics. They suit applications like patient monitoring systems requiring continuous data processing and immediate insights.

• Hadoop: Hadoop is an open-source framework that supports the processing of large datasets across clusters of computers. It is helpful in healthcare for managing and analyzing diverse data types from various sources.
• Apache Spark: Spark is known for its speed and ease of handling batch and real-time analytics. It is ideal for patient monitoring systems where real-time data processing is critical.

AI and machine learning platforms

AI and machine learning platforms provide tools and frameworks for developing and deploying AI models. In healthcare, these platforms enable predictive analytics and personalized medicine. They help analyze patient data, medical imaging, and operational metrics to enhance patient care, improve diagnostic accuracy , and optimize healthcare operations.

• IBM Watson: IBM Watson offers advanced AI and machine learning capabilities tailored for healthcare applications.
• Google Cloud Healthcare API: This platform integrates machine learning and AI tools to help healthcare organizations make more informed clinical decisions.

Online platforms for data engineering education

In addition to all the platforms described above, some resources provide qualifications for data engineers.

• IABAC: IABAC offers comprehensive data engineering courses covering essential data analysis, machine learning, and statistics skills.
• SAS: SAS provides data engineering courses on data manipulation, integration, and transformation. You can become a skillful data engineer by taking their classes.
• IBM: IBM offers extensive data engineering courses in data manipulation, transformation, and integration. Their certifications are valued and enhance career opportunities in the data engineering field.
• Skillfloor: Skillfloor offers courses covering essential skills such as ETL processes, data warehousing, and pipeline architecture.

Additional platforms

• AWS Glue: AWS Glue is a fully managed ETL service that makes it easy to prepare and load data for analytics. It supports data integration across various sources, making it suitable for healthcare data management.
• Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics: Azure Synapse is an integrated analytics service that accelerates the time spent on insight across data warehouses and extensive data systems. It is well-suited for healthcare organizations needing to perform large-scale data analysis.
• Cloudera: Cloudera provides a data platform for machine learning and advanced analytics built on open-source technologies. Just like the Azure solution, it works best with healthcare data at scale.

Final thoughts

In conclusion, data engineering in healthcare offers significant advantages for organizations' internal processes. It helps enhance the quality of patient care by providing access to timely and high-quality data, reduces costs, improves efficiency by optimizing data flow and automating repetitive tasks, and enhances treatment outcomes. If these advantages align with your healthcare business's needs, consider starting your data engineering journey with Binariks today.

At Binariks, we offer assistance in data engineering in the healthcare sector, including:

• Custom software development
• Selecting and setting up existing platforms and solutions for data integration
• Assisting the adoption of interoperability standards like HL7 FHIR
• Building and deploying AI/ML models
• Building or choosing security solutions
• Cloud data migration
• Ongoing support of selected solutions