Machine Learning Healthcare: Opportunities, Challenges, and Use Cases

Machine learning (ML) is generating enormous progress and innovation in the healthcare industry. It is hastening breakthroughs in clinical procedures, medication research, surgery, and data administration. More importantly, patients benefit most because this technology may improve their health by analyzing the best treatment plans for them.

However, there are some notable that need to be overcome to apply this complicated and advanced technology.

In this article, Savvycom will explore the key aspects of machine learning healthcare – implementations, future opportunities, and challenges. 

1. What is machine learning in healthcare?

Machine learning in healthcare refers to the application of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, particularly machine learning algorithms, to analyze and interpret large volumes of medical data for various purposes in the healthcare industry. Machine learning algorithms are trained to recognize patterns and make predictions or decisions based on the data they are provided.

In healthcare, machine learning can be used in several ways:

1. Disease diagnosis: Machine learning models can analyze medical images, such as X-rays, MRIs, or CT scans, to assist in the detection and diagnosis of diseases like cancer, cardiovascular conditions, or neurological disorders. These models can learn from vast amounts of labeled images to identify abnormalities and provide insights to healthcare professionals.

2. Treatment prediction: Machine learning can help predict the best course of treatment for a patient based on their medical history, symptoms, and other relevant data. By analyzing large datasets, machine learning algorithms can identify patterns and associations that may not be immediately apparent to humans, assisting in personalized treatment plans and medication selection.

3. Electronic health records (EHR) analysis: Machine learning algorithms can analyze electronic health records to extract valuable insights. They can identify trends, predict disease progression, detect anomalies, and help with patient management and risk assessment.

4. Drug discovery and development: Machine learning techniques can be employed to analyze large datasets, including genetic and proteomic data, to identify potential drug targets, predict drug efficacy, and accelerate the drug discovery process. Machine learning can also help in optimizing clinical trials and identifying suitable patients for trials based on their characteristics.

5. Remote patient monitoring: Machine learning models can analyze data from wearable devices and sensors, such as heart rate monitors or activity trackers, to monitor patients remotely. These models can detect anomalies, identify changes in health conditions, and provide early warnings for potential health issues.

6. Healthcare operations and management: Machine learning can be used to optimize hospital operations, such as patient scheduling, resource allocation, and inventory management. By analyzing historical data, machine learning models can help hospitals and healthcare systems streamline processes and improve efficiency.

It is important to note that while machine learning has the potential to greatly impact healthcare, it is not a replacement for healthcare professionals. Rather, it serves as a valuable tool to augment their expertise and provide data-driven insights for improved decision-making.

2. Benefits of machine learning application in healthcare

If you are considering adopting ML technology in your healthcare business, grab the chance. The advanced technology brings a plethora of benefits, which will only extend more in the coming years.

Automate and optimize processes

Machine learning may aid in automating and optimizing procedures in the healthcare industry. In practice, ML may be used to automatically process an immense amount of medical data and create tailored treatment plans for patients, saving time and effort that could otherwise be spent on improving patient care quality. This technology can also benefit other activities, such as monitoring medical resources and optimizing staff scheduling. All of these can contribute to better and more efficient patient care.

Personalize treatment plans

By assessing individuals’ medical histories, symptoms, and tests, ML enables healthcare companies to provide personalized treatment to patients. Doctors may use ML in medicine and healthcare to create personalized treatments and provide medications that target particular ailments in individuals.

With this technology, healthcare companies may also have access to analysis based on the patient’s electronic health information. This allows clinicians to make more informed and accurate judgments about the type of treatment appropriate for the patient.

Reduce costs

Machine learning can help healthcare organizations reduce costs associated with manual labor and medical errors by automating routine tasks and improving accuracy. In addition, ML can identify patients at risk of developing chronic conditions, allowing for early intervention and preventive care, which can reduce long-term healthcare costs.

Detect frauds

3% of healthcare claims in the US are false, according to the Justice Department. This results in lost revenue of $100 billion every year. The healthcare sector may speed up the approval, processing, and payment of valid claims by using machine learning models to identify false ones before they are paid for. ML not only stops patient data loss but also helps detect insurance fraud.

Leading healthcare institutions are using AI and ML to detect healthcare fraud, like Harvard Pilgrim Health. They are deploying ML-based fraud detection systems to identify claims and spot questionable activity.

Enhance patient experience

By providing greater personalized treatment, cutting down on wait times, and lowering medical mistakes, ML may assist healthcare organizations in enhancing the patient experience. As a result, patient satisfaction and outcomes are improved.

Detect diseases in early stage

There are several disorders that must be detected early to establish an effective treatment plan and assist patients in securing a high quality of life.

Machine learning, which combines supervised and unsupervised algorithms, assists doctors in the early diagnosis of disease. ML compares new data to existing data on a certain ailment, and if the symptoms raise a red signal, doctors may take appropriate action.

Improve population health

Machine learning healthcare organizations take advantage of patterns and trends in patient data to improve population health. This is because ML systems identify individuals who are more prone to develop chronic diseases, allowing for tailored treatments to avoid disease spread.

Operate robot-assisted surgery

Surgery has undergone a speed and accuracy revolution thanks to ML-powered surgical robots. These systems can carry out complicated surgical procedures with less chance of blood loss, adverse effects, or discomfort. Recovery time following surgery is also considerably quicker and simpler.

Maastricht University Medical Center is one of the top medical centers using machine learning. Small blood arteries no thicker than 0.03 millimeters have been stitched with the help of a surgical robot powered by ML.

Enhance safety

ML may be used to develop models that can predict risks to patients, such as adverse drug interactions or post-operative problems. It aids in lowering patient dangers and enhances the security of medical treatments.

The application of ML in healthcare will eventually boost patient satisfaction, lower expenses, and elevate the quality of care, improving outcomes for both patients and healthcare organizations.

Support clinical research and trials

Machine learning offers a number of possible uses in clinical trials and research. Clinical studies are expensive, time-consuming, and often take years to complete, as anybody in the pharmaceutical sector will attest.

Researchers may create a pool from various data sources, including prior medical visits, social media, etc., via ML-based predictive analytics to identify possible clinical trial participants. Machine learning has also been used to provide real-time monitoring and data access to trial participants, determining the appropriate sample size to be tested and harnessing the power of electronic records to eliminate data-based mistakes.

Develop medications

One of the most important clinical uses of machine learning is in the early stages of drug development. This includes R&D technologies like next-generation sequencing and precision medicine, which can aid in the discovery of alternate treatment paths for complex illnesses. Currently, machine learning approaches use unsupervised learning to find patterns in data without making predictions.

3. Challenges of adopting ML in healthcare

The extensive adoption of breakthrough technologies such as AI and ML presents several issues. A significant number of hurdles exist for the healthcare industry using ML-based software and solutions, ranging from a lack of quality data to patient safety.

So, let’s take a look at them.

Patient consent

Without patients’ explicit consent to the use of their data, the application of machine learning to assess and enhance medical treatments may breach patients’ privacy and confidentiality rights. As a result, healthcare companies must closely adhere to regulatory restrictions governing the use of personal data and verify that patients consent to use their data for machine learning purposes.

They must also ensure that patient data is anonymized and secured from unwanted access and set transparent policies and methods for data management and data access request processing.

Safety and transparency

Ensuring safety and transparency is one of the most challenging issues. Machine learning algorithms are sophisticated, and their decision-making process might be difficult to understand. This lack of transparency is especially problematic in healthcare, as machine learning algorithms’ decisions can directly impact patient outcomes.

To solve these machine learning and health concerns, it is critical that machine learning models be designed to be transparent and that healthcare professionals know how these algorithms make judgments. To that end, it is essential to set clear rules and regulations for the development and use of machine learning algorithms in healthcare to assure their safety and reliability.

Data privacy

Data privacy is of the utmost importance in healthcare because medical data contains sensitive patient information that must be kept private. Data security and patient privacy must be prioritized when implementing machine learning to maintain confidentiality.

Before exploiting patients’ data for machine learning, healthcare institutions must get informed consent from them. This means that patients must be aware of how their data will be used and express their explicit agreement for it to be used. To protect patient privacy, it is also necessary to ensure that the data utilized in machine learning is safely de-identified.

Unstructured data

The issue of unstructured data is the final issue of machine learning healthcare. Medical data is frequently unstructured, making machine learning problematic. To overcome this obstacle, effective ways of structuring and organizing medical data that will make it useful for machine learning must be developed.

Shortage of ML experts

Furthermore, competent personnel with the necessary expertise to create and apply machine learning algorithms in healthcare are in short supply. The lack of resources could slow down the progress and implementation of machine learning in healthcare, leading to potential delays and reduced efficiency in the system.

Addressing these difficulties and overcoming restrictions is important for successfully implementing machine learning in healthcare. If you want to hire the best individuals to create a telemedicine app based on machine learning, it will require offering them a substantial salary.

4. healthcare app or software that take advantage of machine learning

IBM Watson Health

IBM Watson Health is a comprehensive platform that leverages machine learning and natural language processing to assist healthcare professionals in making evidence-based decisions. It combines various healthcare data sources, such as medical records, clinical guidelines, research publications, and patient data, to provide insights and recommendations. Watson Health offers tools for data analysis, clinical decision support, population health management, and drug discovery, aiming to improve patient care and outcomes.

Zebra Medical Vision

Zebra Medical Vision develops AI algorithms for the analysis of medical imaging data. Their software helps radiologists detect and prioritize critical findings in imaging scans, such as indications of cardiovascular disease, liver conditions, or lung cancer. By leveraging machine learning techniques, Zebra Medical Vision aims to enhance diagnostic accuracy, improve workflow efficiency, and aid in early disease detection.

Google Health

Google Health is a prime instance of machine learning in the healthcare domain. This is a Google subsidiary that specializes in the development and implementation of machine learning solutions for healthcare. Their flagship initiative involves the creation of cutting-edge machine learning algorithms tailored for medical imaging applications.

Google Health has launched DeepMind Health, an innovative solution that uses deep learning algorithms to perform medical image diagnosis, including X-rays and CT scans. Google’s invention enables the identification of distinct attributes and irregularities.

The use of machine learning to create virtual assistants for healthcare professionals is another great move from this organization. Google Health engages in the development of conversational AI products aimed at automating routine tasks for healthcare practitioners, while also improving patient engagement and retention.

Microsoft

Project InnerEye by Microsoft employs computer vision and machine learning techniques to distinguish between tumors and healthy anatomy through 3D radiological images, thereby aiding medical professionals in radiotherapy and surgical planning. Microsoft’s AI-based methodology endeavors to generate personalized medication that caters to the distinct requirements of individual patients.

Tempus

The primary objective of Tempus is to achieve revolutionary advancements in cancer research. It does so by procuring vast quantities of medical and clinical data to provide individualized therapies for patients. Leveraging AI-powered algorithms, Tempus conducts an in-depth analysis of its data library to facilitate genomic profiling, clinical trial matching, diagnostic biomarking, and academic research.

CloudMedX Health

Through predictive analytics, this start-up aims to improve patient and financial results. CloudMedX uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) and deep learning to extract existing data from electronic medical records and generate clinical insights for healthcare providers to enhance patient outcomes. CloudMedx’s AI Assistant then assists clinicians and patients in making data-driven choices.

With promising results, the company’s solution has already been used in numerous fields of medicine, including congestive heart failure, liver cancer, ALS, renal failure, and orthopedic surgery.

PathAI

PathAI utilizes machine learning algorithms to enhance pathology and diagnostic accuracy. Their software platform assists pathologists in analyzing and interpreting digital pathology slides. By applying deep learning techniques to vast datasets, PathAI helps pathologists detect abnormalities, classify diseases, and provide more precise and efficient diagnoses, ultimately leading to improved patient care.

Prognos

Prognos leverages machine learning to analyze large volumes of clinical and diagnostic data to identify patients at risk of developing certain diseases. Their platform combines laboratory results, claims data, and other healthcare records to generate insights that assist healthcare organizations in improving patient outcomes and optimizing care management. Prognos aims to enable early intervention and targeted interventions based on data-driven predictions.

5. The future of machine learning in healthcare

The future of machine learning in healthcare is promising. Despite some challenges, machine learning is already improving the patient experience, clinical medicine practice, and pharmaceutical industry processes.

• The market for artificial intelligence in healthcare was valued at USD 15.1 billion in 2022, and Precedence Research estimates that it will reach USD 187.95 billion by 2030, rising at a CAGR of 37% from 2022 to 2030.

• By 2026, AI-powered technologies like machine learning will be able to save the US healthcare industry $150 billion yearly, according to the HBR report.

• Research in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that machine learning algorithms are more accurate than conventional predictive models at predicting patient outcomes like mortality rates and hospital readmissions.

Some of the key factors propelling the market’s expansion are the growing datasets of digital patient health information, the rising desire for individualized treatment, and the increasing demands for lowering healthcare costs.

By analyzing the data and ML technology advancements, we can conclude that the power of machine learning combined with telemedicine in the healthcare industry can potentially transform the entire medical field.