You might be interested in this article at the New Yorker on the application of machine learning to medical diagnostics. As should surprise no one it’s an excellent application of neural networks.
Medicine is where the real potential for efficiencies from automation resides. Not fast food. Artificial intelligence can apply machines to things that machines are good at while allowing human doctors to interact with their flesh and blood patients.
Potential problem: we don’t select physicians for these skills.
The title of this post is from a modern rendering of the Hippocratic Oath written by Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University in 1965:
I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person’s family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.
I refuse to believe that there is anyone named Louis Lasagna. There is no possible proof you can give me that will make me believe this.
He would have gone by Louie Lasagna. No one is going to say “Louis Lasagna is much more professional, I’ll go with that.”
It is a Tufts tradition. He was followed by Mario Manicotti, and 15 years orzo ago, I believe Robert Rigatoni took over.
Steve
Louis Lasagna
Was in a rush this morning. I don’t see this thing doing very much right now. It may help to make a more accurate diagnosis faster. However, you still need someone to do that kind of thorough full body exam like you do with a melanoma patient. You still need someone to talk of the results and what needs to be done for treatment and follow up. That often involves explanations to family. When we have AIs capable of that kind of stuff, then we can talk automation.
Steve
I think you’re looking at this the wrong way, Steve. If AI can result in even a small increase in physician productivity it pays for itself and allows the physician to do things that AI can’t.
Don’t look at AI in terms of replacing flesh and blood physicians.
It might pay for itself, but again it depends upon how well it really works. Everyone was sure electronic records would increase productivity. They still might do that someday, but for right now they are mostly a wash at best, and for many docs a real drag on production. IOW, count me skeptical until it actually works and we see the real costs.
Steve
Not me and if you go back to my posts at the time you’ll see that I scoffed at it. But, then, I was operating at a disadvantage. I actually knew something about the subject.
Later today, I have a medical appointment at the VA. Except for paper medical records generated while still in service, the VA is only electronic records, and there is a difference between the younger and older medical staff. (It now includes kiosks to check-in, also.)
The younger doctors who can mostly touch type can enter your information as you talk, but it can be a distraction. The older and less able to touch type will enter your information after you leave or towards the end, but they could be missing something.
The real advantage is when you have to go to a specialist or the Urgent Care or ER. You do not need anything but your carcass. As soon as they enter your name and “last four”, they have access to everything that has ever been done at the VA. There is no need to carry a bag full of medicines you take. No matter your condition, they can get an accurate medical history.
There is also a website where you have access some of your information – lab work, appointments, and prescription history. You can also re-order your meds at the site to be mailed, and if it too early, the system will schedule the refill. If you give them an email address, they will send you appointment reminders and refill tracking info.
There is also a secure (web-based) email application you can use to interact with the various medical personnel, but it is an opt-in for the physicians. (My psychiatrist will only use voicemail because she wants to hear how you sound.) I only use the email system when my refills run out, and I have gotten clarification about a few things.
The big drawback is that it can take a while to locate various data entry screens, and until the various prerequisites are met, the medical personnel are locked out of some things.
Overall, I am satisfied, but I know that the savings are the “holy grail”. The VA has been working on the system for the 15 years I have been with them, and it is finally getting to the point where it seems to be working fairly smoothly.
If patient satisfaction is all that is accomplished, I am not going to complain, but the medical personnel are probably more productive as well. The initial costs for implementation and enhancements may never be recouped through savings, but compared to most people, you all are still in the leeches and bloodletting era.