The effect of the use of big data in medicine: The transformation in the patient- physician relationship

The Effect of the Use of Big Data in Medicine: The Transformation in the Patient- Physician Relationship The present study discusses what the use of Big Data brought about by the technological developments transformed in the context of relationships between physicians and patients that are the parties of the most critical contact in healthcare services and how this transformation took place. The study aims to answer fundamental questions about the process of providing healthcare services, such as how Big Data use changed the patient-physician relationship and how it affected the beneficially and efficiency of this relationship, how the attitudes and behaviors of physicians changed, how the use of Big Data influenced their intellectual competence, and what transformations Big Data fostered in terms of speed, time, efficacy, trust, equality, security, quality, malpractice, remote diagnosis and treatment, satisfaction, focused healthcare, personalized treatment, modeling, potency, cost, and healthcare models. To this end, 130 physicians were contacted through surveying, a quantitative research method. Additionally, we interview 12 physicians we deemed experienced on the subject in order to obtain qualitative data. In-person interview method, a type of intensive interviewing, was employed. A descriptive mixed methods study was conducted by the analysis of the interviews together with the quantitative survey data. Most participating physicians are of the opinion that all healthcare professionals should receive training on big data use and the number of digital hospitals should be increased nationwide. They also believe that Big Data use will improve the intellectual competence, and the attitudes and opinions related to patient-physician relationships and ensure efficacy and efficiency of healthcare. They also expressed that they believed that the efficiency and quality of healthcare services provided in hospitals would increase. With respect to patient-physician relationships, it is believed that the use of Big Data favorably transforms healthcare services in terms of speed, time, efficacy, trust, equality, security, quality, malpractice, remote diagnosis and treatment, satisfaction, focused healthcare, personalized treatment, modeling, potency, cost, and transformation of healthcare models and that this transformation in patient-physician relationships and healthcare services is the start of the most efficiency period in the historical progression of the sociology of health and illness. Concerned about the complete objectivization of patient-physician interactions, physicians believe that it would be beneficial to put an organized effort into a synergic production of Big Data use towards a common goal through traditional and professional approaches. Key words: sociology of health and illness, big data, digital health services, patient- physician relationship