# Towards the Use of Big Data in Healthcare: A Literature Review
## 4 Results
### Big Data and Health Awareness  
The main health benefits of BD are found in disease prevention, in identifying the main health risk factors and in designing more effective healthcare measures [58; 59; 75]. BD, in fact, supports the digitization of all medical records by making all data related to each patient's medical history available [76]. The areas that could gain more than others from the benefits of technology and, in particular, from the preservation and sharing of large amounts of clinical data are predictivity, timely diagnosis, and personalized treatment, also favoring the development of precision medicine (patient-centered care) [38; 39]. Taking advantage of new biotechnological discoveries allows for going beyond the traditional concept of a \"standard patient\" to treating the \"individual\" in their uniqueness [77; 78], owing to the analysis of interactions between the different variables that describe the patient's vital functions and that may affect their health [11], with enormous benefits for medical functions [72; 73; 74; 75; 76; 77; 78; 79]. This improves efficiency and is more patient-centric, yielding consistent, suitable, safe, and flexible solutions [39; 80] due to the vigorous analysis by applying various machine learning techniques [2]. The predictive use of BDA tools allows, especially in cases of health emergencies, for the prompt reporting of high-risk patients and ensuring more effective and efficient care, thus improving overall healthcare outcomes [9; 81; 82]. In fact, the heterogeneity, volume, and velocity of the data contribute to the monitoring of population flows and trends, which are of crucial importance both for early diagnoses and for personalized healthcare services [8; 12; 13]. [PERSON] et al. (2021), in this regard, conducted a study showing that BD management is considered a key prerogative for the quality of medical services and conditions [83]. AI-based diagnosis systems and algorithms to detect new outbreaks are just some of the tools that could limit the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and related disease COVID-19, thus maximizing healthcare resources [13; 17; 84] and contributing to the containment of pandemic risk on national territory [85; 86]. [PERSON] et al. (2021) demonstrated the relevant role that disruptive technologies for COVID-19 analysis, such as AI, Industry 4.0, IoT, Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), BD, virtual reality (VR), drone technology and autonomous robots, 5G, and blockchain, have played in limiting the spread of COVID-19 outbreaks [87]. Another technology that is being widely deployed is Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs). This is an innovative solution that can restructure healthcare and make pervasive support available to patients [87; 88]. The evolution of digital healthcare into mobile healthcare (mobile health) has also made it possible to manage information via apps that a patient can download directly to their smartphone or tablet [89], allowing them to monitor their health status independently and share it with their doctor [44; 90]. Therefore, IoT allows a much better and timely diagnosis of the patient's status and offers medical services via telemedicine, even in remote locations [58; 59; 90; 91] still underdeveloped, where the number of specialists in health services is insufficient [92]. The use of telemedicine is of fundamental importance in this SARS-CoV-2 pandemic period for preventing and managing COVID-19 infection [93]. The many applications of medical IoT in the field of monitoring include sensors to monitor vital parameters, such as blood pressure, heart rate, etc. ; smart tags (i.e., chips inserted in clothing) with monitoring and data scanning functions; bracelets or other wearable devices capable of detecting vital parameters and forwarding emergency calls in case of anomalies; and Real-Time Location System (RTLS) (i.e., Global Positioning System[GPS]), which is a satellite-based navigation system used to locate ambulances, patients, doctors, etc. [5; 9].