artificial intelligence (AI)

See the following -

Machine Learning in Healthcare: Part 3 - Time for a Hands-On Test

Every inpatient and outpatient EHR could theoretically be integrated with a machine learning platform to generate predictions, in order to alert clinicians about important events such as sepsis, pulmonary emboli, etc. This approach may become essential when genetic information is also included in the EHR which would mandate more advanced computation. However, using machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) in every EHR will be a significant undertaking because not only do subject matter experts and data scientists need to create and validate the models, they must be re-tested over time and tested in a variety of patient populations. Models could change over time and might not work well in every healthcare system. Moreover, the predictive performance must be clinically, and not just statistically significant, otherwise, they will be another source of “alert fatigue.”

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Make No Little Plans

Ever seen the new TV show 'Pure Genius'?  Probably not; its ratings are dismal.  I've seen it, and, well, it isn't very good.  But what I like is the premise: a young tech billionaire builds a hospital using only the latest technology, and treats patients regardless of cost. Gotta give the creators props for trying to re-imagine hospitals.  The health care industry could do with some serious attempts at re-imaging, and not just for hospitals. What made me think about this were two stories about the auto industry, which is desperately trying to remain relevant in a world of Uber, self-driving cars, and our love affair with our various digital devices...

Many Healthcare Technologies Are Married to the Fee-for-Service Model

Juliet Preston | MedCity News | January 10, 2017

Monday’s 5 p.m. digital health panel at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference happened to coincide with a presentation given by the popular U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. Some attendees were torn. For those that did make it, panel moderator Bob Kocher promised some topical debates far more interesting than that “moon-thing” Biden has been up to. It was all of the fun, without the metal detectors. A partner at Venrock Ventures, Bob Kocher set the stage with some fundamental observations about how technology can help enhance healthcare for all stakeholders...

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Microsoft and Partners Combine the Cloud, AI, Research and Industry Expertise to Focus on Transforming Health Care

Peter Lee | Microsoft Blog | February 16, 2017

...Healthcare NExT, a new initiative to dramatically transform health care, will deeply integrate greenfield research and health technology product development, as well as establish a new model at Microsoft for strategic health industry partnerships. Through these collaborations between health care partners and Microsoft’s AI and Research organization, our goal is to enable a new wave of innovation and impact using Microsoft’s deep AI expertise and global-scale cloud.This initiative includes investments in resources for our partners to capture new opportunities to apply AI to healthcare, such as the Microsoft AI in Health Partner Alliance, an expanding group of partners focused on advancing health technology. Alliance members will receive unique training and access to Microsoft technologies, engineering expertise and data sets. Read More »

Microsoft, Amazon, Google, IBM, Oracle, and Salesforce Issue Joint Statement Making Commitment to Open Source Healthcare Interoperability

Josh Mandel | Microsoft Industry Blog | August 13, 2018

Interoperability is an overlapping set of technical and policy challenges, from data access to common data models to information exchange to workflow integration – and these challenges often pose a barrier to healthcare innovation. Microsoft has been engaged for many years on developing best practices for interoperability across industries. Today, as health IT community leaders get together at the CMS Blue Button 2.0 Developer Conference here in Washington, DC, we’re pleased to announce that Microsoft has joined with Amazon, Google, IBM, Oracle, and Salesforce in support of healthcare interoperability...

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My Phone Says I've Looked Better

Current AI can sift through millions of photos to pick you out of a crowd, with varying degrees of success.  Camera angles, make-up, hats, quality of image all factor into how successful such software is.  Given the recent rapid rates of improvement, though, these are bumps in the road, not insurmountable barriers. Other software can process your facial expressions, allowing them to make some good guesses about your emotions.  If you are a marketer, or a law enforcement officer, this information might be gold, but if your privacy is important, it might be a scary invasion.  Someone is always watching. What I want to know is when this AI can tell if I look sick.

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New Report: Top Challenges Facing HHS Includes Harnessing Data

In November 2019 the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a new report, Top Management and Performance Challenges Facing HHS. Divided into six major sections, this report reviews the OIG's observations with respect to financial integrity of HHS programs, value and quality, protecting the health and safety of beneficiaries as well as the public at large, harnessing data to achieve these goals, and working across government. The fifth challenge, "Harnessing Data To Improve Health and Well-Being of Individuals," is particularly foundational. Read More »

New Study: 'Cloud Of Things' Could Make Customer Service Better, Humanity Worse

Adrienne Lafrance | The Atlantic | May 14, 2014

Experts predict technology will improve daily transactions by 2025, but there are major caveats...

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New Trends and Troubles for AI in Medicine

Nelson Williams | Silicon Angle | March 11, 2017

Medicine is a complex field. So complex that any given person can’t know more than a fraction of what’s going on. Keeping up with the latest discoveries is impossible. Machine learning and other forms of artificial intelligence offer a new way of looking at medicine and a great power to automate medical tasks. At the South by Southwest conference event in Austin, TX, a panel of experts came together to discuss the state of medical AI and how machine learning can benefit both patients and doctors...

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Nigerian Inventor Creates Computer That Can Smell Explosives and Cancer Cells

Peter Pedroncelli | AFK Insider | September 1, 2017

Nigerian inventor Oshiorenoya Agabi has designed and developed a computer that can identify the smell of explosives and cancer cells through a combination of neurons and silicon. The Nigerian neuroscientist, who is based in Silicon Valley, unveiled his incredible invention at the TEDGlobal conference in Tanzania this week...

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Ok Chatbot: What Is Your Value for Humanitarians?

Emily Aiken and Joseph Agoada | ICT Works | July 20, 2017

Whether or not you are aware of it, you have probably interacted with a chatbot – whether checking your finances, making a travel reservation, or even ordering a pizza. But what opportunities exist to use chatbots to assist humanitarians and development practitioners? Chatbots are conversational computer programs that can read message questions, interpret responses, and perform actions or make decisions, without any assistance from a live person on the other end...

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On the Need for a Universal Health Record

The current path of progress of the EHR, with its concentration on “meaningful use,” and an intellectual property regime that does not fully exploit the capacity for innovation by end-users is approaching an evolutionary dead-end. It is time to treat the EHR as what it should be: an integral part of medical care that has limitless potential for maximizing the use of information acquired in the provision of health care, and not an impediment to optimal care and a bugaboo for the physician. Read More »

On The Positive Effect of Collaboration and Information Sharing Among Physicians

For better and for worse, our healthcare system is built around physicians. For the most part, they’re the ones we rely on for diagnoses, for prescribing medications, and for delivering care.  And, often, simply for being a comfort. Unfortunately, in 2023, they’re still “only” human, and they’re not perfect. Despite best intentions, they sometimes miss things, make mistakes, or order ineffective or outdated care. The order of magnitude for these mistakes is not clear; one recent study estimated 800,000 Americans suffering permanent disability or death annually.  Whatever the real number, we’d all agree it is too high.  Many, myself included, have high hopes that appropriate use of artificial intelligence (AI) might be able to help with this problem.  Two new studies offer some considerations for what it might take.

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Open Health Guide to HIMSS19

The annual gargantuan HIMSS conference is back in Orlando with over 45,000 participants from more than 90 countries. There will be more than 1,300 vendors at the exhibit floor and more than 300 educational sessions. As with the last several conferences, the focus on open source as the key underlying technologies of health information technologies continues to increase. In previous conferences, we have seen the rise of open source technologies, in particular, those related to interoperability such as FHIR and Blockchain. A large number of sessions at HIMSS19 will be focused on another set of technologies powered largely by open source software and design principles such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and natural language processing.

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Open Policy Alliance: A New Program To Amplify Underrepresented Voices In Public Policy Development

On behalf of the Open Source Initiative and the public policy team,  I’m very pleased to share early news of our new educational program – one aimed at building and supporting a coalition of underrepresented voices from public benefit and charitable foundations. This new program – the Open Policy Alliance – seeks to empower these voices and enable them to actively  participate in educating and informing US public policy decisions related to Open Source software, content, research, and education.  The OPA is created in response to increased demand for public dialog and stakeholder engagement in these adjacent and related “open domains”.

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