Opportunities for Business Intelligence and Big Data Analytics in Evidence Based Medicine

Evidence based medicine (EBM) is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. Each year, a significant number of research studies (potentially serving as evidence) are reported in the literature at an ever-increasing rate outpacing the translation of research findings into practice. Coupled with the proliferation of electronic health records, and consumer health information, researchers and practitioners are challenged to leverage the full potential of EBM. In this paper we present a research agenda for leveraging business intelligence and big data analytics in evidence based medicine, and illustrate how analytics can be used to support EBM.