HEALT H CARE A NA LY T I C S
Algorithm is the new doctor
and data is the new drug
Vinod Khosla argued
that given the level of
service that we seek and
eventually receive from
80 percent of physicians,
we might be better
off receiving that care
from a computer with
sophisticated algorithms.
Khosla fondly named that
system “Dr. Algorithm.”
BY RAJIB GHOSH
16
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Two years ago, Vinod Khosla, the luminary venture capitalist and the co-founder of Sun Microsystems,
shook the technology and the medical communities with
his highly talked about article, “Do We Need Doctors
Or Algorithms?” In the article Khosla argued that given
the level of service that we seek and eventually receive
from 80 percent of physicians, we might be better off
receiving that care from a computer with sophisticated
algorithms. Khosla fondly named that system “Dr. Algorithm” or “Dr. A,” for short.
Later in his follow-up talks, including the recently
concluded Rock Health CEO Summit in San Francisco, he ignited the debate further by saying that 80 percent of physicians in the United States can be replaced
with machines, and that day is not very far away. The
medical community responded with the argument that
healthcare is not about technology – it is about the intersection of technology, science and human emotions,
along with the therapeutic touches and listening abilities
of a doctor. David Liu, M.D., did a balanced rebuttal in
The Healthcare Blog.
As healthcare analytics continues to evolve in 2014,
let’s pause for a few moments and think about the debate at hand. There are some big ideas embedded in
it that we as data scientists and big data technologists
need to consider seriously. If Khosla is right in his prediction that clinical data analytics will usher in a new era
in U.S. healthcare – a sea change that will transform
A N A LY T I C S - M A G A Z I N E . O R G
W W W. I N F O R M S . O R G