Data mining applications in healthcare

Data mining applications have benefited the healthcare industry in terms of fraud and abuse detection by insurers, use in customer relationship management decisions by healthcare organizations and identification of effective treatments and best practices by physicians. The enormous data generated by healthcare transactions cannot be properly examined and practiced using traditional methods. Data mining presents the techniques and tools used in converting large healthcare data into useful information for decision-making. This study discussed data mining applications in healthcare areas such as the healthcare detection of fraud and abuse, appraisal of efficiency in treatment, hospital infection control, healthcare management, customer relationship management and identification of high-risk patients.Keywords: Data mining, healthcare, customer relationship management, fraud, abuse