Artificial Intelligence to Improve Healthcare – Service Delivery

access_time January 10, 2019
by   TechmavenitAdmin
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The technological developments taking place in the field of machine learning and artificial intelligence have helped healthcare sector  alter the way the industry diagnoses and treats diseases. A WHO report claims that the world will be short of 12.9 million healthcare workers by the year 2035. However, the fast pace of artificial intelligence development and its integration with healthcare apps will go a long way in solving this deficiency expected in the near future. Artificial intelligence can be termed as the science of creating intelligent computer systems that use sets of algorithms supported by vast amounts of data to provide solutions and services for all requests without the need of human intervention. Technology majors such as Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon, IBM etc have all adopted and taken to artificial intelligence in a big way. Nevertheless, nowhere is the presence of artificial intelligence more widely used than in the healthcare sector where it has delivered incredible value to patients and medicos alike. A study by Frost & Sullivan has revealed that the market for artificial intelligence in healthcare is projected to reach $6.6 billion by 2021, a growth of 40%. It further states that AI has the potential to improve outcomes by 30 to 40 % and reduced expenses by as much as 50%. Let us look at the areas in the healthcare sector where artificial intelligence finds wide applications. Healthcare chatbots Healthcare bots are able to ask basic questions regarding the health of patients and suggest medication for common allergies. Bots can also be used in situations such as scheduling follow- up appointments, helping patients with medication needs and guiding patients to the various sections in the hospital. They also are able to act as customer service executives and telephonically answer questions regarding doctor availability, hospital timings, existence of various departments etc. These healthcare bots are available 24×7 and act as assistants and bring in efficiency, helping hospitals reduce administrative expenses substantially. Diagnosis Artificial intelligence allows for precise and early diagnosis and detects abnormalities in x-ray and MRI in the cases of oncology and it can create a customized treatment schedule. Microsoft is working on a project that analyzes cancer cells and helps radiologists improve reading of patient data and take the guesswork out of radiology treatments. IBM Watson’s cognitive computing is able to sort through latest medical information to find patterns that are relevant for individual patients. AI helping to treat larger number of patients Artificial intelligence will enable specialist doctors to reach a larger population. Patients located in remote areas and wanting treatments can contact hospitals via their apps and feed their symptoms. AI sensors are capable of recognizing the input data and can forward this data to specialist doctors where the help of specialist doctors are required. For common ailments, AI robots are able to recommend the needed medicines. Clinical trials One of the major challenges facing physicians is looking for an appropriate clinical trial for a patient who has exhausted all treatment options. However, the IBM Watson, the super computer with its artificial intelligence capabilities, is able to scan thousands of clinical trial protocols to determine which clinical trial will be appropriate for a particular patient and pass on this recommendation to the physician. Disease management IBM Watson is being employed to examine disease pathways and to determine why some patients may respond more positively to specific types of treatments than others. Watson uses analytical data to find out how patients will respond to different treatment options. Doctors can make use of this data to manage the disease more successfully.

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