Kristen Sottile graduated from Pace University with a focus on mathematics — a focus that has served her well. Beginning as an intern in Westmed’s medical-records department, she advanced quickly and now, at 28, occupies the crucial role of senior analyst, which entails intensive dissections of health data. Her multifaceted duties include tackling the intricacies of big data and complicated logic problems.
Sottile comes at healthcare from an interesting vantage point: She is intimately involved with all its issues and ramifications yet not a healthcare provider herself. “Depending on the project,” she relates, “I get to learn about various specific health issues, including detailed information about certain surgeries, screenings, or laboratory processes. It is an exciting glimpse into the world of medicine.” She is also experienced enough “to have a good handle on both the medical and technical details of a project, which helps to paint a complete picture of the business.”
Though Sottile concedes that the field of healthcare today is “complex and challenging,” her prognosis — for the industry and for her career — is an optimistic one: “New innovations can help to both increase efficiency and to save lives.” As for her particular niche, Sottile says, “Big data has the potential to have a big impact to benefit the health of great numbers of people. Analytics can help us to identify the most important problems in a population.”
