What Is Health Care Analytics? Definition and Impact

Key takeaways

Health care analytics is a subset of data analytics that uses both historic and current data to optimize outcomes within the health care industry.

• Data analytics in health care can be predictive, which uses historical data to predict outcomes, or prescriptive, which provides actionable insights. 

• Benefits of health care analytics include improved patient care, accurate health insurance rates, optimized resource allocation, enhanced scheduling, and more efficient decision-making.

• You can start a career in health care analytics by gaining qualifications, acquiring relevant skills, gaining experience, and continuing to learn about health care.

Discover more about what health analytics is, learn about its benefits for both health care administrators and patients, as well as how you can get started in this exciting new career opportunity. If you’re ready to start building expertise in data analytics, enroll in the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate. You’ll have the opportunity to gain experience with fundamental data analysis skills like data organization, cleaning, and visualization in as little as six months. Upon completion, you’ll have earned a career certificate for your resume.

What is health care analytics?

Health care analytics is a subset of data analytics that uses both historic and current data to produce actionable insights, improve decision-making, and optimize outcomes within the health care industry. Health care analytics is not only used to benefit health care organizations but also to improve the patient experience and health outcomes. 

What is data analytics in health care?

The health care industry is awash with valuable data in the form of detailed records. Industry regulations stipulate that health care providers must retain many of these records for a set period of time.

This means that health care has become a site of interest for those working with “big data,” or large pools of unstructured data. As a still-developing field, big data analytics in health care offers the potential to reduce operational costs, improve efficiency, and treat patients.

Read more: Big Data in Health Care: What It Is, Benefits, and Jobs

Types of analytics

1. Predictive analytics in health care

• Definition: Uses historical data to identify trends and forecast outcomes

• Applications: Identifying a patient’s risk for developing a health condition; streamlining treatment; reducing readmissions

2. Prescriptive analytics in health care

• Definition: Uses historical data to recommend actions

• Applications: Directing business decisions; prescribing treatment plans; enhancing diagnostic imaging tools

Benefits of data analytics in health care

Health care analytics offers benefits to health businesses, hospital administrators, and patients. Although it can be tempting to imagine health care analysts working in a virtual data cloud, the reality is that their work has a tangible impact on how hospitals operate, treatment is provided, and medical research is conducted.

At a glance, some of the most common benefits of health care analytics include: 

• Improved patient care, such as offering more effective courses of treatment

• Predictions for a patient’s vulnerability to a particular medical condition 

• More accurate health insurance rates

• Improved scheduling for both patients and staff 

• Optimized resource allocation 

• More efficient decision-making at the business and patient care level

How to become a health care data analyst

Health care data analysts typically need a bachelor’s degree or higher to begin their career. If you want to advance in your career as a health care data analyst, consider gaining experience in entry-level positions to acquire the proper leadership, mathematics, and research skills needed to be successful in this role.

Salary and job outlook for health care data analytics jobs

As a combination of both health care and data analytics, two of the fastest-growing industries, health care analysts can command a higher-than-average salary in a field that’s here to stay. 

Health care analytics job outlook 

The job outlook for those working in health care analytics is very positive.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), health care occupations are expected to grow considerably between 2024 and 2034 for a total of 1.9 million new jobs [1]. During the same period, the BLS projects that jobs for operations research analysts, the category under which data analysts fall, will grow by 21 percent, with an average of 112,100 new openings each year [2].

The combined growth of these two industries suggests that the demand for those working in health care analytics will continue to be strong for the foreseeable future. 

Health care analytics salary 

Those working in health care analytics can expect a higher-than-average salary. According to Glassdoor, for example, the median total salary for a health care analyst was $113,000 as of February 2026 [3]. This figure includes base salary and additional pay, which may represent profit-sharing, commissions, bonuses, or other compensation. Other positions than those working in health care analytics might possess similarly high salaries. Data scientists, for instance, made a median total salary of $154,000 during the same period, according to Glassdoor [4]. 

Steps to become a health care data analyst

A career in health care analytics begins with acquiring the appropriate credentials, skills, and experience. 

1. Get qualified.

Those looking to enter the field of health care analytics are typically expected by employers to have a credential that signals their qualification for the position. While it is possible to land a job without either a certificate or a degree, the two most common routes to entry-level positions include:

• Obtaining a Professional Certificate: A Professional Certificate indicates that you have taken a particular course of study that has equipped you with the appropriate skills for the position. This can be particularly enticing to job seekers or career switchers who don’t have the resources to pursue a four-year college degree, particularly if they are eager to join the field. Google’s Data Analytics Professional Certificate, for example, equips beginners with foundational data analytics skills in just six months.

• Obtaining a bachelor’s degree: A bachelor’s degree signals to employers that you have completed several years of dedicated study in a particular field. Some common fields of study for those entering data analytics include mathematics, statistics, and computer science.

2. Gain the right skills.

Health care analytics requires a mix of both technical skills and personal skills to ensure that you do your job well. Some of the most common skills include the following: 

• Programming languages, such as Python or R

• Database tools, including SQL and Excel

• Data visualization tools, such as Tableau, Excel, and Jupyter Notebooks

• Problem-solving abilities 

• Collaboration 

• Storytelling, particularly as it relates to data 

3. Gain experience.

Employers like to see prior experience on resumes because it demonstrates that the applicant already has some experience doing that job in the professional world. In effect, it can be helpful for those just entering health care analytics to gain prior experience either through an internship, volunteer effort, or a related job.

Though an internship in health care analytics is likely the best option for job seekers, any data analytics or health care internship will likely improve your resume and signal your acquaintance with the field. 

4. Learn more about health care.

Health care analytics is as much about health care as it is about data analytics. As a result, an individual working in health care analytics should strive to not only understand the tools and processes required to undertake data analysis but also the unique concerns of the health care industry.

Whether you decide to volunteer at a hospital, obtain a health care internship, or take online health courses, expanding your understanding of the health system will only better prepare you for your future role in health care analytics.

Navigate your next career move with confidence

Explore career paths, assess your skills, and connect with resume guidance while browsing our Career Resources Hub. Or if you want to learn more about data analytics, check out these free resources:

• Get career advice: Data analytics tips from a University of Michigan prof

• Watch on YouTube: 7 Essential Data Analytics Skills for Beginners

• Learn key concepts: Data Analysis Terms & Definitions

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