This article appeared a day or so ago.
Is the computer about to replace your GP? Smart phones are becoming ‘mobile doctors’
October 14, 2016 4:30pm
EXCLUSIVE
Computers are beating doctors at diagnosing melanoma, they can categorise your personality type and even tell if you are pregnant and now they are putting a doctor in your pocket.
Your smart phone is about to become a mobile doctor providing instant personalised health advice, reminding you about health screens, storing your medical records and helping you manage your illnesses.
It will make medical appointments for you when you need a pap smear or skin check, order your prescription medication when it is due to run out, allow you to attach blood test and x-ray results, and remind you when your kid’s vaccinations need updating.
IBM is developing an artificial intelligence called Watson that works like the human brain and responds to natural language and it has proved better than doctors at diagnosing melanoma.
Australian tech wizards and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners are using Watson to develop a new computerised health concierge called Healthand.
The record will link with the government’s Myhealth record from next year.
When patients sign up for free to the record they answer a series of questions about their health history and the serviced will provide personalised health reminders and information that suit each individual.
The free online service will collect medical test data, provide an easy-to-use library of health information that can be accessed by voice commands on a smartphone and provide answers in natural language.
It will provide videos and animations explaining diseases and advice on how to manage them using information from the official GP red book used by doctors in Australia.
Because it is designed by the medical college the advice is trusted and reliable unlike general searches on google or other search engines.
The program will integrate real time data from your Fitbit and from next year it will synchronise to the government’s Myhealth record.
The service will link to the ChemistWarehouse app and people who leave their prescriptions at these pharmacies will get reminders when a new script is ready to pick up and when a doctor’s appointment is needed for a repeat prescription.
The service will integrate medical booking services like Healthengine and Firstavailable so when it reminds youabout a medical check like a Pap smear you can make an appointment immediately.
Lots more here:
It is well worthwhile to go and have a close look around the site:
It is not at all clear from the web-site just where this is all heading but with involvement of entities like the RACGP and IBM’s Watson clearly it needs to have an eye kept on it!
The idea of selling anonymised patient date might just receive some push back at present!
I will watch and wait to see what happens next with considerable interest!
David.
David - some fundamental questions to shine the light behind the curtain:
ReplyDelete1. How viable is this>?
2. What is the business model?
3. Have we not seen the same many times before - in the US - with very little traction.
4. If the Department and ADHA are not supportive the RACGP will pay a high price will it not?
5. Is this an Australian developed solution or a 3rd party pick up off the shelf from overseas?
6. Which people in the RACGP are driving this?
Very basic info which does not seem to have been made available.
October 17, 2016 10:52 AM I agree - these are hugely relevant questions.
ReplyDeleteAnd there seems to be a publicly funded organisation set up to do exactly this - healhdirect
ReplyDeleteSo unless someone thinks that the Feds will pull the plug on healthdirect, what is the rationale for setting up in opposition to a well funded public operation?