Within an established system, there is always hesitation when it comes to drastic changes. In the healthcare system, this is doubly true, mainly due to the level of risk that is at play. While most systems, such as the school system or our driving laws, are essential and any dip in their effectiveness would cause issues, the healthcare system directly impacts the lives of millions of people daily. Any problem with the health care system could be deadly, and the large the issue the more substantial the consequences. Because of this, when it comes to implementing new policies and technologies to the healthcare system, often there is hesitation. Moreover, why is it so crucial that we improve it now before it is too late?
The need for change
According to one source, medical-related deaths are among the top ten causes of death in the United States alone. Medical errors and misdiagnosis are standard and can be deadly if not caught right away. The cost of medical care is skyrocketing, and there is a marked deficit in health care providers in hospitals around the world. While improvement can be risky, the current state of the healthcare system cannot be sustained for long. We must find ways to fix our current system before we face a real healthcare crisis.
How Artificial Intelligence will bring evolution
The term Artificial Intelligence which includes various forms of learning technology describes a program that can take systematic inputs of data to make a prediction, such as a medical diagnosis.
Recently, artificial intelligence-based diagnosis software has been used in medical offices to allow doctors to track a wide range of hereditary information and recurring symptoms to help them identify patterns. These kinds of comprehensive analysis programs allow doctors to monitor multiple medical concerns at the same time and help prevent misdiagnosis. While these kinds of services are not widely implemented in the medical world, they are growing in reliability and use, allowing doctors to make more proper healthcare and lifestyle decisions with their patients. One of the most significant concerns for artificial intelligence systems is that they pull diagnostic information from a wide range of sources, which can leave them vulnerable to hackers.
Another aspect of learning technology in the healthcare world is the internet of things. The IoT includes personal medical tracking devices, such as step trackers, and implanted medical devices that allow doctors to monitor their patients remotely in real-time. While this does raise privacy concerns, the IoT is useful for patients that maybe, otherwise confined to a hospital for medical observation or long-term treatment. By using both artificial intelligence systems that can learn to identify dangerous symptoms and the IoT to monitor a patient's' lifestyle and vitals, healthcare providers can reduce the frequency of emergencies and misdiagnosis. This, in turn, will help improve the quality of healthcare that caregivers can provide to their Patients overall
Moving towards preventative healthcare
Medical Innovations such as the internet of things (IoT) that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to connect medical records can help make preventative healthcare a reality. While these programs, also known as machine learning programs, are still in the early stages, they could prove to be a massive help to medical providers universally. These programs would allow doctors to keep track of your healthcare on a renewed continuous basis, as well as have access to exercise routines using things like personal trackers. By being able to see this kind of information without having to wait for a bi-annual checkup, your doctor would be able to detect problems before they happened, making preventative care all the more straightforward. Plus, these programs would put your data in an easy-to-access location, allowing you to have more say over your healthcare records and make wise choices about your health.
By changing healthcare towards caring for people's health and supporting healthy lifestyles, medical providers can help enhance the quality of patient's treatment and their lives.
