Add Big Data to the List of Tools to Fight COVID-19

Big data means having real-time access to current and historical data from multiple sources and the ability to analyze those data in real time and help identify potential clues about the impact of COVID-19 and arm providers with information for critical treatment decisions. However, it has been woefully absent in our nation’s response to COVID-19. Dennis Scanlon, Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Administration and director of Center for Health Care and Policy Research, and Mark Stephens, professor of family and community medicine at Penn State College of Medicine, recently published a commentary in the American Journal of Managed Care.