The Role of Text Analytics in Healthcare: A Review of Recent Developments and Applications

Abstract : The implementation of Data Analytics has achieved a significant momentum across a very wide range of domains. Part of that progress is directly linked to the implementation of Text Analytics solutions. Organisations increasingly seek to harness the power of Text Analytics to automate the process of gleaning insights from unstructured textual data. In this respect, this study aims to provide a meeting point for discussing the state-of-the-art applications of Text Analytics in the healthcare domain in particular. It is aimed to explore how healthcare providers could make use of Text Analytics for different purposes and contexts. To this end, the study reviews key studies published over the past 6 years in two major digital libraries including IEEE Xplore, and ScienceDirect. In general, the study provides a selective review that spans a broad spectrum of applications and use cases in healthcare. Further aspects are also discussed, which could help reinforce the utilisation of Text Analytics in the healthcare arena.