Data implementation in the healthcare industry is expected to grow faster than in many other large business sectors, including entertainment, and even manufacturing. Not only will this development make it easier for hospitals to run efficiently, but it also has major implications for how patients will be treated.
In this article, we will take a look at some of the many ways that AI and big data analytics will help physicians better care for their patients.
Three Big Benefits of Big Data for Patient Care
Diagnostics
Diagnosing patients has historically speaking often been a very gradual process. In the typical way of things, a doctor will see a patient. The patient will describe their ailments. The doctor will consider the description and consult books, colleagues, and medical research until they come to the most reasonable conclusion available to them.
During this period, tests, and other lengthy procedures might also be implemented to further the physician’s ability to render an accurate diagnosis. While this process has been used to effect for many years, it can be lengthy, during which time an illness and the corresponding discomfort that it produces is given time to progress.
Algorithms, data and AI can work to shorten this cycle considerably. Using certain programs, doctors can now input a patient’s health information, including their age, gender, race, and family history, and then input the symptoms they are experiencing. From that point, an artificial intelligence system is able to identify the most likely cause of their ailments.
While this system of course can not replace the skilled hands of a trained doctor, it can work to speed up the diagnostic process, and help patients get what they need faster.
Real-Time Monitoring
Patient data can now be taken constantly around the clock thanks to a combination of IoT and big data technology. Wearables including heart monitors document a patient’s vital signs and send the information directly to the physician, who can view it in real-time.
This constant supply of data eliminates the need for ailing patients to make constant trips to the hospital. It also makes it easier for physicians to render quick, accurate diagnostics.
Preventative Care
Of course, the medical system is working at its very best when it can prevent illnesses from cropping up in the first place. Data and AI combine to make preventive care intuitive and personalized. While maintaining one’s health in the past has historically involved a lot of generalities (eat right, exercise, etc.) using data and AI, doctors can take patients’ personal information, and make preventative care plans that are catered specifically to their background and family history.
Not only does this help keep individuals healthy, but it also has the potential to reduce healthcare costs and put less of a strain on the healthcare system as a whole.
How A.I. & Robotics Is Reshaping Healthcare
The robotic surgical industry is growing rapidly, with current projections estimating that it will expand by $7 billion in the next three years. Robotic surgery splashed out of the pages of science fiction and into the real world in the early 90s. Since then, it has improved healthcare by adding a degree of precision to surgical procedures that human hands alone cannot replicate.
Robotically performed procedures benefit from lower rates of infection and a drastically reduced capacity for human error. While most surgeries are still performed the old-fashioned way, the tides have begun to change. The “Davinci System” which leads the world in robotic surgeries is used every thirty seconds, by over 40,000 surgeons worldwide.
These numbers will surely only expand as the technology, and its 3000 pending patents gain momentum throughout the world.
A.I. & Big Data Trends to Watch in 2022
While there are an incalculable number of developments that can arise from enhanced AI and data implementation in healthcare, some seem more looming than others. For instance, the use of chatbots in the burgeoning field of telemedicine.
Chat-bot technology is perhaps one of the most broadly used forms of artificial intelligence. Since Covid-19 drastically impacted the way the general public interacts with the healthcare system, chatbots have been used to answer basic, non-emergency patient complaints around the clock.
Smart devices are also poised to continue to influence public health. Pedometers, such as the ever-popular Fitbit have long been used to track activity levels. However, as IoT technology expands, so too has the utility of wearable health technology.
Smart devices can now be used to track things such as heart rate, blood pressure, sleep patterns, and more. As these devices continue to proliferate it has been suggested that physicians may soon be able to distill the data they produce into actionable insights.
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