Machine Learning in Healthcare

Introduction to Precise Health, Vol. 1

In this updated report we provide a short introduction to machine learning and precise health, as well as an overview of ways to apply machine learning to healthcare, a machine learning timeline and glossary of keywords.

A Tsunami of Information

15 minutes. That’s how long your doctor has to see you, assess your complaint, diagnose a solution and see you out the door – hopefully on the pathway back to wellness.This isn’t much time, when you consider the wealth of information that he or she has to consider.

So how will a doctor process all this new information in the short time in which they see their patient? The truth is they can’t. It will require high-powered computing, using insights from machine learning – a type of artificial intelligence that enables computers to find hidden insights without being programmed. Algorithms will interrogate vast data sets and surface recommended treatment plans tailored to individuals.

There are two things required for the successful application of machine learning in healthcare – intelligent algorithms and rich data sets.

At Orion Health we are at the forefront of developing both areas. We have invested in a world-leading, multi-million-dollar research initiative called the Precision Driven Health. It is investigating how the application of machine learning will enable new healthcare solutions that are more precisely tailored to a person’s unique characteristics. And our software manages over 100 million patient health records globally, making us one of the few health software companies in the world capable of carrying out machine learning analysis.

We believe this is an exciting time to be part of the global healthcare sector and so we have produced this brief introduction to machine learning. As a discipline health is transforming into a mathematical science, but at its heart it will always be about enabling the perfect care for everyone, anywhere in the world.