The drive to introduce EHRs into the American healthcare system was partly due to the fact that lack of data is a major contributor to preventable deaths in the country. When a doctor does not have access to all the information on a patient’s medical or genetic history, it severely compromises his/her ability to accurately diagnose and prescribe appropriate treatment. With EHRs containing a full record of patient history, such deaths can now be reduced.
But collecting and storing medical data with EHR systems is only the first step. Technologists, medical experts and developers are already working on introducing artificial intelligence into medical software products. EHRs are slowly moving towards that goal by implementing certain features mandated by the meaningful use program such as automatic alerts for tests, vaccinations etc. Nevertheless true artificial intelligence can allow doctors to deliver quality healthcare more effectively and efficiently.
Incorporating Artificial Intelligence into EHR systems can solve the biggest problem doctors will have to face tomorrow: how to parse actionable insights from mountains of data. Any person born in the last decade probably has years of medical data stored in an EHR somewhere. When that person needs treatment, the challenge is to be able to find information that is relevant to the current medical problem out of millions of irrelevant data points. AI can significantly help under the circumstances. An AI tool will also be able to go through information faster than humans and deliver actionable insights with a higher confidence level than today’s comparatively dumb systems.
Another area where AI can help is in situations which require the cooperation of multiple specialists. Doctors have to continually make decisions from which there are no points of return – surgery is not generally reversible, delays can lock out viable alternatives and prescribing the wrong medication could lead to death. This is why a second or third opinion is generally solicited from colleagues or other specialists before embarking on risky treatments.
Coordinating care and communicating accurately can become difficult when multiple individuals are involved, each using a different EHR product. Software with built-in AI will be able to catch any diagnosis or treatment errors that are frequently caused due to miscommunication or lack of access to data. Artificial intelligence can reduce delays, minimize errors and provide meaningful data faster than is possible by humans alone.
Cloud dental software products like Dovetail are at the forefront of innovation and interoperability. As new medical technologies are developed, they can be delivered to our clients immediately through quick updates.
