How AI can resolve issues plaguing the healthcare industry
Here's a problem that almost everyone has experienced: As an expat, or even one who has always lived in the country, you don’t always know which doctor is right for you. Nor does every doctor or specialist you visit have all the information regarding your medical history and background.
In this case, almost every doctor will see your symptoms, give a diagnosis and prescribe medicines, or simply refer you to the right specialist. This causes a number of issues, including but not limiting to an incorrect prescription, which leads to many saying they haven’t felt any better with the medicines, as well as a delay in correct diagnosis and inciting a feeling of distrust in the patients.
SME 10X spoke to Melda Akin, co-founder of Dimension14, an AI decision-making tool that can be deployed in various industries, including healthcare, academics, mobility, and e-commerce, to solve such issues.
The fact is, the more information the doctor has about you, including the medicines that have previously worked, blood type, blood sugar, medical history, and such, the better the diagnosis and treatment is going to be.”Melda Akin, co-founder of Dimension14
However, not all doctors have the time. It is an inefficient system. “Clinics see thousands of patients in a month,” says Akin.
Plus, a large chunk of the population does not even see a doctor once in 6 months. So, how is it practically possible for doctors to have an immediate recollection of patients’ background, or even the time to peruse through the details as it is not right to expect patients to go to the same doctor every time.
This is where AI steps in to solve the issue.
AI can optimise the entire system and customer journey, right from searching for the right doctor based on your medical history and symptoms, to supporting the doctor in giving the right diagnoses and treatment.Melda Akin, co-founder of Dimension14
She explained that blood pressure, blood type, ethnicity, sugar levels, insulin sensitivity, genetics, weight, hormones — they all play a role in determining the effectiveness of treatments. This is where Artificial intelligence can be a game-changer.
This is especially true in oncology. Today technology exists whereby physicians can take a section slide of a tumour, study it in relation to a person’s genetics and other factors, and predict whether they need chemotherapy, surgery, just hormonal therapy, or another form of treatment. This is the epitome of precision medicine.
AI is leading the world to a path of personalised or precision medicine, as opposed to DTC mass-produced drugs.
However, the time and resources this takes make precision medicine expensive. This is where AI can step in to automate those decisions — more than making it cost-effective, it can make personalised medicine accessible to a larger majority of people.
The way forward requires more data to strengthen machine learning and AI systems, so they can learn more and be of better help. However, it also needs strong and regulated cybersecurity solutions to protect against the misuse of data.
The more technology advances, the more life-changing ways we discover in which AI can help humanity and the world resolve some of the most challenging issues. Healthcare is a great aspect in which we will see AI take a stronger lead. But it needs to go hand in hand with strong security solutions, as well as regulation — just as any other medicine that can impact the health of a living being.
