The new era of business intelligence: Big Data potential in the private health care value creation

Abstract

Purpose

As the health care sector is changing rapidly, there is a growing need to develop new ways to make data-driven decisions, especially at the organizational level. Data utilization, like business intelligence (BI) activities, benefits health care organizations. The purpose of this paper is to study the potential of Big Data and the utilization of BI tools in creating value in the private health care industry in Finland.

Design/methodology/approach

Intellectual capital (IC) components and Möller et al.’s (2005) work on value capabilities are used as a framework to point out the roles of data utilization and BI tools in value creation. Thematic interviews enable understanding of the value creation based on Big Data potential and utilization of BI tools in the Finnish private health care industry.

Findings

The findings will provide an understanding of the existing data sources and BI tools used in private health care. In addition, it provides an insight into the future-oriented Big Data potential, which can create new business concepts. The approach provides valuable insights for value identifying the future needs of data utilization and creates an understanding on the current state within the private health care sector.

Originality/value

Data-driven value creation is one of the most discussed topics in private health care sector. By analyzing the current data-source utilization, challenges with data and BI tool utilization and the future vision and development roadmaps, the authors gain a better understanding of the IC components and value creation capabilities.

Citation

Ratia, M., Myllärniemi, J. and Helander, N. (2018), "The new era of business intelligence: Big Data potential in the private health care value creation", Meditari Accountancy Research, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 531-546. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEDAR-08-2017-0200