Decision Support through Data Integration: Strategies to Meet the Big Data Challenge

Objectives: Presentation of an overview of the reasons why data integration initiatives should be seen as enablers for effective decision support in data-intensive healthcare settings. Methods: Typical challenges rising from the information requirements of clinical decision support systems are highlighted. We then propose a methodological solution where several heterogeneous data sources are integrated by the means of a common data model on top of which the DSS is built. Results: We report on two successful case studies based on the DSSs developed in the context of the MobiGuide and Mosaic projects, funded by the European Union in the Seventh Framework Program.