Dr. Watson? How IBM system can improve diagnosis, treatment.

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

The system's deep search and analysis ability can help doctors quickly sift through mountains of data in multiple databases.

IBM’s revolutionary Watson technology now has its first commercial application. The sophisticated data retrieval and analysis system, which was seen in February handily defeating the top human contestants of the "Jeopardy!" quiz show, will be helping doctors and clinicians at WellPoint to treat cancer patients.

The implications of Watson’s technology for the commercial and government medical sectors was discussed at a press briefing in Washington D.C., on Sept. 13. A panel of medical experts from academia, government and business discussed the data challenges facing modern medicine and how a capability such as Watson could dramatically change the speed and efficiency of medical treatment.

Watson is designed to answer human questions written in natural language quickly, accurately and confidently. Unlike a search engine, the technology analyzes the meaning and context of a question and then processes specific data, such as medical records, to suggest available options to support a diagnosis.


Related stories:

Why IBM’s Watson is good news for government

IBM’s Watson charts new frontiers for computer science


Until the last few years, there had been little progress or development of health care informatics systems to move medical records from paper to digital formats, said Dr. Eliot Siegel, professor and vice chairman of the University of Maryland’s Department of Diagnostic Radiology. But that change in itself has problems because the digital records are like their paper counterparts in that clinicians must rely on keyword searches. Current systems cannot adequately search across individual medical data nodes to gather information. “We don’t have the capability to do that,” he said.

Watson’s ability to perform a variety of patient analytic services — such as referencing medical health records against known drug allergies — could dramatically change how doctors diagnose patients, Siegel said. The IBM system's deep question-and-answer capability, coupled with its analysis functions, allow it to serve as a doctors’ assistant by performing patient chart reviews, the process of suggesting potential courses of treatment, and citing related reports and documentation to back up its conclusions.

One of the major problems facing doctors is the sheer amount of medical information available, said Basit Chaudhry, a medical scientist with IBM Research. This data overflow is also a challenge to health reform because it affects productivity. He added that as an industry, health care has not been able to increase productivity for 20 years. In fact, productivity — measured in the time and effort it takes to diagnose and successfully treat patients — has either been negative or flatlined primarily due to issues revolving around managing and analyzing massive amounts of data, he said.

As the first organization to use Watson, WellPoint will use it to support its clinical staff, said Lori Beer, the company’s executive vice president for enterprise business services. She said that the technology will help streamline the entire process of helping patients.

The initial deployment of Watson at WellPoint will occur in 2012 and focus on supporting the health care management company’s oncology department. Watson’s search and analytical capabilities will allow clinicians to provide more personalized treatment, she said.

An area where Watson could readily be applied to is health care for the Defense and  Veterans Affairs departments. Data is key to health care, and DOD and VA are currently working on efforts to share medical data, said Capt. Michael Weiner, the Navy’s chief medical information officer. The challenge for the government is how to use data to drive better care and lower costs, he said.

Government clinicians can now pull up a great deal of information from DOD and VA medical databases to provide uniform care. However, what if this information could also be used to prompt patients to take more active steps to avoid or treat diseases such as diabetes, Weiner said. A capability like Watson could be useful to both clinicians and their patients. Clinicians would be able to call up patient records and use Watson to review individual health records and compare symptoms and potential drug interactions and other treatments. For patients, Watson could offer health care and dietary/lifestyle suggestions, he said.

One of the possibilities of technologies such as Watson’s is personalized medicine, Siegel said. But to provide such care, clinicians need access to medical databases to tailor treatment. However, to optimize care, Watson must be able to draw data from a variety of medical databases, such as clinical trial studies, he said.



X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.