Technical innovations using cognitive systems are making an impact across a wide range of industries – from the first self-driving vehicle Olli to Hilton’s Watson-enable robot concierge Connie. And while these uses have the potential to simplify the way things work, there’s another area where the benefits of cognitive systems can make a far broader impact on many lives –healthcare.
As the healthcare industry grapples with new challenges brought on by the growing number of empowered, digitally savvy consumers, they find themselves at the same time struggling with growing regulation, soaring costs, and a shortage of skilled resources. As a result, cognitive systems – those than can understand, reason, learn and interact – are enabling enhanced patient care, advanced discoveries, and better decision making by providers. And, new partnerships are being formed across the healthcare ecosystem to create value for consumers in new ways. Here are three recent examples:
- The American Diabetes Association is applying the cognitive computing power of IBM Watson to its clinical and research data to build a first-of-its-kind diabetes advisor for patients and caregivers that may transform how diabetes is prevented and managed.
- Medtronic is using Watson to build a cognitive app that taps analysis of patients’ insulin, continuous glucose monitors and nutritional data –to help people understand how their behavior affects their glucose level in real time.
- The Weather Company, an IBM Business, announced The Cold and Flu Tracker, sponsored by GSK Consumer Healthcare’s (GSK) Theraflu® brand, which leverages real-time sentiment data to provide updates on cold and flu activity at a local level.
Cognitive systems can also help make drugs safer. Celgene Corporation and IBM Watson Health announced a collaboration to co-develop IBM Watson for Patient Safety, a new approach to improving pharmacovigilance methods by combining Watson’s cognitive computing with Celgene’s deep experience in drug safety and risk management. One objective will be to augment the ability to interpret the growing volume and complexity of Individual Case Safety Reports (ICSRs) which describe the potential side effects of drug products. This is an example of cognitive systems augmenting human intelligence to drive better outcomes.
The digital revolution is opening up new opportunities for engaging individuals in their health. The ability to stay connected through a variety of devices is increasing consumer influence over healthcare organizations dealing with unprecedented amounts of data. If tapped, that data can create an opportunity for deeper insight, personalized interactions, and better care.
“A Booster Shot for Health and Wellness,” a recent study from IBM’s Institute for Business Value, underscores these demands from consumers who want more control over their health, as well as more personalized and convenient care. Although a clear majority of healthcare executives surveyed say they understand these demands, the majority are unable to deliver.
In fact, over half believe they are not effectively delivering a personalized experience or providing successful self-service options –nor are they satisfied with their ability to comprehensively and quickly address consumer and patient concerns.
And while two-thirds of healthcare executives surveyed are actively pursuing product and service innovation, they cite insufficient skills, organizational complacency and lack of analytical tools among their greatest inhibitors.
Healthcare executives agree that cognitive computing has the potential to radically change healthcare. Among healthcare leaders familiar with the technology, 81 percent believe it will critically impact the future of their business and 95 percent intend to invest in cognitive capabilities.
The healthcare industry can bridge the gap between untapped opportunities and current capabilities with a cognitive system that can understand, reason, learn and interact. Couple that with the rapid digitization of the healthcare industry and we see a future ripe for more personalized medicine and precision care.
Ernie Fernandez is General Manager of the U.S. Public Sector for IBM. The content in this post is his own and doesn’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions. You can learn more about cognitive business and IBM’s technology solutions like Watson and the IBM Cloud platform at: ibm.com/cognitive