Health analytics: the road not traveled.

Review of the development of health administration by chronological examination of textbooks reveals that the definition of health administration has changed. In the process of conversion to a business management model, health analytics have been undervalued by health administration programs. Health analytics can be defined as "techniques for the analysis of health services that require in-depth understanding of the workings of the health system and are grounded in a rational-comprehensive public health model of health administration." Health analytics are not simply the application of business techniques to health services. Quality assessment and planning methods are examples of two important aspects of health administration that are addressed by health analytics.