HEALT H CARE A NA LY T I C S
electronic data is available, the absence of
data liquidity and interoperability within and
among healthcare organizations makes it
harder to get a holistic view of any patient.
IBM’s Watson, therefore, is not only just an
“advisor” it is an incredibly expensive “advisor” that takes too long (18 to 24 months)
to understand how care pathways work [3].
The key here is that physicians have to
let the machines learn from their decisions
or mistakes, and as IBM is finding out, that
is non-trivial. How do you scale when every project is custom built, takes a long time
to complete and yet you are at the mercy
of the physicians who fear that they are
training their replacement? Moreover, even
when personal medical data is available
patients are concerned that seamless data
flow among healthcare stakeholders will
destroy their privacy and make them more
vulnerable to insurance payers and employers. Not an easy problem – is it?
Developing algorithms and technology
for the purpose of replacing physicians is
the wrong premise to begin with. Having
said that, I have to admit that the future
of medicine will no doubt embrace a larger role of data and analytics. The barriers
that face Dr. Watson today will eventually
come down. Business models will emerge.
Privacy will be addressed through legislation. Treatments will be personalized in real
time. But human beings are social animals
– we want to hear from other humans that
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no matter what the current situation is, we
will be OK! A sick patient wants to go back
home with assurance from a human minus
the “confidence levels of 90 percent.”
Armed with the data and algorithms,
doctors of the future will be able to triage
patients far more effectively and preemptively, spend more time with those that they
need to see, and be the listener, healer and
collaborator that a patient expects. This is
how Dr. A will help to augment, not replace,
the human capabilities to take care of an
increasingly aging population that will continue to live longer.
Rajib Ghosh ([email protected]) is an
independent consultant and business advisor with
20 years of technology experience in various industry
verticals where he had senior level management
roles in software engineering, program management,
product management and business and strategy
development. Ghosh spent a decade in the U.S.
healthcare industry as part of a global ecosystem
of medical device manufacturers, medical software
companies and telehealth and telemedicine solution
providers. He’s held senior positions at Hill-Rom,
Solta Medical and Bosch Healthcare. His recent work
interest includes public health and the field of ITenabled sustainable healthcare delivery in the United
States as well as emerging nations. Follow Ghosh on
twitter @ghosh_r.
NOTES & REFERENCES
1. Laura Nathan-Garner, “The future of cancer
treatment and research: What IBM Watson means for
our patients,” MDAnderson.org.
2. CDC.gov, “Ambulatory Care Use and Physician
Visits,” http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/docvisit.htm.
3. Spencer E. Ante, “IBM Struggles to Turn Watson
Computer Into Big Business,” http://online.wsj.com/
news/articles/SB100014240527023048871045793068
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