By Ray D’Onofrio, principal data architect, SPR.
Could Amazon’s personal assistant, Alexa, predict when you will be sick? Or, if Siri is the first to know you have COVID-19. It’s not as far-fetched as it sounds. Artificial intelligence (AI) is already transforming healthcare in a number of ways and by combining today’s technology with available data from a range of sources (e.g., electronic health records (EHR), personal buying habits, etc.), we can achieve even more important breakthroughs.
There is limitless potential in the way AI and machine learning (ML) can better equip healthcare professionals for their jobs. Instead of replacing our doctors and nurses, the technology works alongside their skills and expertise to elevate their patient care overall. This pairing of human and machine can create an efficient workplace for clinicians to deliver even more quality care to patients at scale.
The expanded use of AI and ML in healthcare hinges on several factors, including data ownership concerns and the ethical implications of providing healthcare data to technology companies like Google and Amazon. But with the right approach, it’s possible to leverage AI and ML to achieve better medical outcomes.
We don’t know how to effectively use AI yet
We’re familiar with the potential applications of AI in healthcare. For example, we know that in many cases, AI is better equipped to detect skin cancer than a human doctor. In addition to improving diagnoses, AI also holds promise in the development of customized treatment plans and giving patients greater control over their conditions. When AI and clinicians work together — such as when Harvard combined analysis from human pathologists with AI to identify breast cancer cells — it can produce even more effective results.
While the potential uses for ML and AI in the healthcare space are vast, these technologies are only as effective as the data that is available to them. If we could access all of the patient’s available data, — from their electronic health record, to their data stored by Google, Amazon and other technology providers — we would have a more comprehensive view of the patient’s health and significantly improve their experience using today’s technology.
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 50 million American adults had chronic pain in 2016. That is a whopping 24 percent of the population unable to go about their daily business normally.
Opioids are among the most popular conventional ways of managing chronic pain, but the emergence of the opioid epidemic has had researchers looking for equally effective but less damaging alternatives. The following are four healthcare technological advances used in the management of pain:
1. Electrical Stimulation
Electrical stimulation, or simply E-stim, is a physical therapy technique that uses electrode pads and an electrical stimulation device. The pads are attached to the skin on the painful area and connected to the E-stim device, whose work is to generate electric impulses. The impulses vary in intensity, and the physiotherapist will use the patient’s tolerance to calibrate the device.
E-stim technology works by stimulating the affected muscle’s contractions. Depending on the device’s settings and the target tissue, these contractions can take the form of rapid, painless twitches or be completely unnoticeable.
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As the need for increased testing and vaccinations in response to global pandemics continue to rise, more laboratories are popping up across the country. In order to meet the growing demands, however, it becomes necessary for labs to provide accurate and efficient results. Though there are a lot of factors that play a role in the accuracy and efficiency of laboratories, part of it boils down to workflow and productivity.
When things run smoothly in your lab, your team is able to optimize their time and complete more processes. As laboratory processes are constantly changing and more technological tools, equipment, and resources are developed, lab managers are strongly encouraged to periodically consider ways to make completing tasks easier.
Lab Layout and Design
Whether you know it or not, the layout/design of your laboratory space can have a significant impact on efficiency, productivity, and the certifications you can acquire. If the work stations, lab equipment, and supplies are located in areas that aren’t conducive to efficient workflow, it can quickly become a problem. Departments aren’t able to collaborate with each other, certain areas of the lab become high-traffic areas creating lines to perform tasks, and time is wasted in trying to access equipment and supplies.
Though there are lots of ways to set up your laboratory, an open concept seems to be most popular. An open concept design is essentially one in which everything is easily visible and accessible to lab employees while still providing them with designated spaces to work. To determine which layout will work best in your lab, consider each process and the responsibilities of each employee. Based on this information, you can then position work stations, equipment, and supplies in a manner that works best for your team.
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It’s mostly not news to anyone anymore (at least to those within cybersecurity and healthcare circles) that healthcare is heavily vulnerable to cyberattacks. In 2018, the healthcare industry received about twice the number of attacks as other industries.
But what’s worrisome is that this hasn’t really changed. Things don’t look much better in 2020, where cyberattacks and human error have led to millions of exposed records. And that’s only the breaches that have been reported so far.
So why, even with ample proof of the cybersecurity challenges and threats to healthcare,nothing has changed? Why aren’t hospitals, providers, and vendors taking the necessary steps to ensure better security practices and thus better patient confidentiality? Let’s dive into the healthcare industry’s cybersecurity problems and look at some of the solutions to them.
Critical underfunding
Those in healthcare are very familiar with budgetary limitations. Underfunding has long been an issue for hospitals and clinics in general, but even more so when it comes to the IT department. In the past, very little of the budget has gone to cybersecurity efforts in all but the big hospitals in metropolitan areas.
There is a silver lining, however. According to the HIMSS Cybersecurity Survey, change – while slow – is happening. Healthcare organizations are starting to allocate more of their budget to cybersecurity – although there’s no significant data on how much that may be.
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Telehealth is the provision of healthcare via digital information and communication technologies. Most often employed via computers, tablets and smartphones, telehealth also includes an emerging range of health products such as remote monitoring devices, digital biomarkers and wearable technology.
While telehealth adoption had been growing steadily over the last decade, its role in facilitating care during the COVID-19 pandemic cemented its place as an essential healthcare delivery channel.
While telehealth is presently most often employed through video consultations between patient and provider, it encompasses a broad array of clinical and nonclinical uses such as:
- Patient education
- Appointment scheduling
- Nutritional evaluation
- Physical examinations
- Aggregate patient data
- Prescription management and adherence
This list is only a small selection of the current ways in which telehealth is deployed. Over the next few years, we’ll continue to see the scope of telemedicine expand into new arenas while growing even more capable in current fields like:
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The air which we breathe can be affected by a wide array of external pollutants that compromise the quality of the air as well as have an effect on the humidity experienced in the air.
Pollutants and humidity in the air can cause a host of problems, not only to a person’s health but also to building infrastructure. It doesn’t matter whether it is indoors or outdoors, polluted air or air which has too much or too little humidity can be detrimental to our immediate environment.
Common pollutants
There are a lot of common pollutants which occur inside and outside the home. Industrial fumes from factories can create smog as can particulate matter from passing traffic; while indoor pollutants can range from cooking fumes to pet hair as well as mold spores that are a sign of damp caused by humidity.
Their presence of pollutants in the air can lead to health issues, allergies and even building damage if the source of the pollutants isn’t addressed or at least mitigated, and although km they aren’t a new trend the prevalence of home air purifiers has grown into a huge industry with health-conscious families seeking to ensure the best possible quality of air.
But how do they work, and what should you look for if considering one?
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Water dispensers are becoming a vital appliance in our homes today; in the recent past, they were only found in offices and public places.
Today water dispensers are offering a healthy alternative to tap water. A consideration embraced by homeowners who thrive on having healthy families in the long run.
Clean and hygienic water plays a significant role in human health. Its recommended for a human to take eight glass of water per day, this keeps the body healthy and refreshed.
However, the kind of water one drinks determines how healthy they are. In most cases, tap water is exposed to dirt and bacteria, which contributes to 90% of the illness today.
Most infections affecting children and adults are brought about by the clean but contaminated tap water.
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By Adam Herbst, senior vice president, chief legal, compliance, planning and government relations officer for Blythedale Children’s Hospital and adjunct assistant professor, and Ira Bedzow, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine, New York Medical College.
We continue to see how states are responding to the multiple challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic presents – trying to ensure there is hospital capacity for patients, protective equipment for healthcare workers, money in the hands of the unemployed, and food in the mouths of those who are hungry. All these endeavors have been responsive, by which we mean that even when states are preparing for problems, state leaders are enacting temporary solutions with the hope to return to the status quo ante.
Yet there is one major area of healthcare that the pandemic is forcing state and health leaders to confront, which can fundamentally change healthcare delivery in the future – telemedicine. While telemedicine has begun to replace office visits to primary care physicians and in certain specialties, it can be a major disruptor for behavioral health, where changes made now could last long after the pandemic. That will be a good thing. It would allow healthcare to meet the increasing needs for behavioral health, both because of the pandemic and in general. It would also serve as a paradigm case for how healthcare can and should adapt to meet the economic, social, and technological needs and opportunities of the future.
Because of the pandemic, states have loosened regulatory requirements, such as HIPAA and other privacy protection measures, so that patients can access clinicians through Skype and Facetime. This has created access to conventional clinical care, such as diagnosis and monitoring, as well as patient education and wellness promotion, among other services.
Telehealth has also benefited from the easing of restrictions, but states can and should do more. For example, while states have suspended border restrictions for telehealth due to the pandemic, the suspension is temporary, like all other responses so far. But it shouldn’t be. Public officials and health leaders need to find ways to maintain the increased and flexible access to telehealth even after the pandemic, especially in behavioral health.
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