Data mining and healthcare informatics.

OBJECTIVE: To acquaint members of the Academy with a relatively recent development in the area of data exploration and statistical analysis. METHODS: A review of the concepts and methods inherent in data-mining with a special emphasis on the those methods applicable to predictive modeling. RESULTS: Data-mining is demonstrated to be a useful tool for researchers in those circumstances where large amounts of information are available. CONCLUSIONS: With the advent and proliferation of on-line data collection, truly massive databases are now available to health care researchers. In that situation, data-mining methods yield some unique opportunities to researchers who wish to develop prediction models and to establish associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]