Applications of data mining in health and pharmaceutical industry

The Data mining is gradually becoming an integral and essential part of health and pharmaceutical industry. Data mining techniques are being regularly used to assess efficacy of treatment, management of ailments, and also in various stages of drug discovery and process research. Off late, data mining has become a boon in health insurance sector to minimize frauds and abuse. A good number of health care companies, medical hospitals and pharmaceutical manufacturing units are employing the data mining tools due their excellent efficiency. The identification and quantification of pharmaceutical information can be extremely useful for patients, physicians, pharmacists, health organizations, insurance companies, regulatory agencies, investors, lawyers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, drug testing companies. This review deals with the major applications of data mining techniques in health care and pharmaceutical industries with relevant examples.