Healthcare Informatics: The Next Phase of Healthcare
By applying methods of data analysis to health data, healthcare informatics allows health professionals to increase their efficiency and healthcare outcomes.
This summer, I worked at a data analytics agency specializing in the healthcare industry. The company has developed an AI which analyzes cell images to detect leukemia; thus far, the AI surpasses the performance of human pathologists in both speed and accuracy. If the AI can be successfully implemented into hospital diagnostics, it will greatly enhance our ability to detect leukemia; this is a particularly severe problem in China due to limited medical resources
The leukemia detection AI, as well as other diagnostic tools based on healthcare informatics, is certain to revolutionize the healthcare industry. In developing regions, where there are limited healthcare resources, the use of health informatics can enable physicians to save additional lives. In developed regions, healthcare informatics can help hospitals increase their efficiency and reduce costs.
However, there are two remaining challenges which must be resolved in order to successfully apply the data science in healthcare industry. It is essential to ensure the accuracy of the predictive models, since a mistake made by a model can be fatal to the patient. Moreover, due to their sensitive nature, we must develop secure methods of storing, using, and sharing healthcare data.
Source: https://data-science-blog.com/blog/2017/09/04/data-science-and-predictive-analytics-in-healthcare/
