Los Angeles, Calif., USA - A symposium titled "Advances in Big Data: Implications for Dental Research" will take place today at the 45th Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the American Association for Dental Research. The AADR Annual Meeting is being held in conjunction with the 40th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research.
Federal initiatives in big data offer the opportunity in dental, oral and craniofacial research to utilize information gathered for other purposes, such as large nationally representative surveys, claims data, and electronic health records to advance the research and practice of dentistry. The National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research are committed to big data research with initiatives like BD2K.
This session will provide an overview of Big Data, highlight methodological issues such as ownership of data, sampling strategy, reliability and validity of different data, present examples of big data research, and highlight resources available for researchers interested in initiating big data programs. Panelists will describe the potential that data linkage between multiple datasets offers. The panel will discuss how big data research affects dental providers and how the addition of diagnostic coding could expand research possibilities. Examples using existing data to design Medicaid policy and structure benefits, integrate electronic health records and billing systems, assess program and provider performance, and evaluate and control for fraud, waste and abuse within their programs will be provided. The symposium will also highlight opportunities and priority areas for innovation and research grants, and share examples of successful big data research.
This is a summary of the symposium titled "Advances in Big Data: Implications for Dental Research," which will be presented on Friday, March 18, 2016, 10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. at the Los Angeles Convention Center, room #501BC.
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About the American Association for Dental Research
The American Association for Dental Research (AADR), headquartered in Alexandria, Va., is a nonprofit organization with more than 3,700 members in the United States. Its mission is: (1) to advance research and increase knowledge for the improvement of oral health; (2) to support and represent the oral health research community; and (3) to facilitate the communication and application of research findings. AADR is the largest Division of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR). To learn more about the AADR, visit http://www.aadr.org.