Opening the Black Box: Understanding the Science Behind Big Data and Predictive Analytics

Big data, smart data, predictive analytics, and other similar terms are ubiquitous in the lay and scientific literature. However, despite the frequency of usage, these terms are often poorly understood, and evidence of their disruption to clinical care is hard to find. This article aims to address these issues by first defining and elucidating the term big data, exploring the ways in which modern medical data, both inside and outside the electronic medical record, meet the established definitions of big data. We then define the term smart data and discuss the transformations necessary to make big data into smart data. Finally, we examine the ways in which this transition from big to smart data will affect what we do in research, retrospective work, and ultimately patient care. Accepted for publication March 22, 2018. Funding: None. Conflicts of Interest: See Disclosures at the end of the article. Reprints will not be available from the authors. Address correspondence to Ira S. Hofer, MD, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 757 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095. Address e-mail to ihofer@mednet.ucla.edu. © 2018 International Anesthesia Research Society

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