Big data in healthcare refers to the massive amount of information created by adopting modern technologies that collect patients' medical records and are used for managing hospital performance. It can be used for a variety of purposes, from curing individual patients to predicting and preventing epidemics and cutting costs. This healthcare technology trend is transforming healthcare as we know it today. The biggest medical systems in the future are going to use devices that will monitor patients' well-being and help medical experts provide high-quality care. Global big data in the healthcare market is expected to reach $34.27 billion by 2022 at a CAGR of 22.07%.

From real-time diagnoses aided by machine learning to wearable devices that track and transmit patient data from a distance, a host of new and evolving technologies are poised to influence care delivery in 2020. As intuitive tools intended to maintain good health, not to react to an existing illness, these investments are designed to reduce hospitalizations and related costs. "We're seeing a shift away from using technology to advance specialty care and high-tech medicine and a shift toward using technology to enable prevention and primary care," Dr. Felix Matthews, a managing director and physician leader at Deloitte, tells HealthTech. The continuing challenge for hospitals, he adds, is finding the right tools and level of investment to tackle risks and reach enough patients to justify the effort. Once the domain of early adopters, wearables are poised to help healthcare professionals collect a wealth of data from a widening and more diverse pool of users.