Today during the 2019 World Innovation Forum, Partners HealthCare unveiled its selections for the fifth annual “Disruptive Dozen,” an annual list of 12 emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies with the greatest potential to impact healthcare in the next year.
Disruptive Dozen Overview & Criteria
The annual 12 most disruptive technologies are selected through a rigorous process by Partners HealthCare thought leaders, clinicians, and researchers. Interview results from nearly 100 experts are assembled into a field of nominated technologies.
The nominated innovation must have a strong potential for significant clinical impact at some point in the next decade and offers significant patient benefit in comparison to current practices. The innovation may also have a significant benefit to the delivery/efficiency of health. In addition, the nominated AI-related innovations must have a high probability of successful commercial deployment—e.g., payers will be expected to support it
The output of the voting is a consensus on the 12 technologies that will have the greatest impact in the next year. The final list is then announced in rank order at the World Medical Innovation Forum.
The output of the voting is a consensus on the 12 technologies that will have the greatest impact in the next year. The final list is then announced in rank order at the World Medical Innovation Forum.
Without further ado, here is a look at the fifth annual “Disruptive Dozen” for 2019:
1. Reimagining Medical Imaging
AI is transforming radiology and imaging, including mammography and ultrasound, to bring improvements in clinical care and diagnoses to patients worldwide. Researchers envision AI transforming mammography from one-size-fits-all to a more targeted tool for assessing breast cancer
2. Better Prediction of Suicide Risk
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. and the second leading cause of death among young people. AI is proving powerful in helping identify patients at risk of suicide (based on EHR data,) and also examining social media content with the goal of detecting early warning signs of suicide. These efforts toward an early warning system could help alert physicians, mental health professionals and family members when someone in their care needs help. These technologies are under development and not cleared for clinical use.
3. Streamlining Diagnosis
The application of AI in clinical workflows such as imaging and pathology is ushering in a new era of AI-enabled disease diagnosis. From identifying abnormal and potentially life-threatening findings in medical
4. Automated Malaria Detection
Nearly half a million people succumbed to malaria in 2017, with the majority being children under five. Deep learning technologies are helping automate malaria diagnosis, with software to detect and quantify malaria parasites with 90 percent accuracy and specificity. Such an automated approach to malaria detection and diagnosis could benefit millions of people worldwide by helping to deliver more accurate and timely diagnoses and could enable better monitoring of treatment efficacy.
5. Real-time Monitoring and Analysis of Brain Health – a Window on the Brain
A new world of real-time monitoring of the brain promises to dramatically improve patient care. By automating the manual and painstaking analysis of EEGs and other high-frequency wave-forms, clinicians can rapidly detect electrical abnormalities that signal trouble. Deep learning algorithms based on terabytes of EEG data are helping to automatically detect seizures in the critically ill, regardless of the underlying cause of illness.
6. “A-Eye”: Artificial Intelligence for Eye Health and Disease
Not only is AI is helping advance new approaches in ophthalmology,
7. Lighting a“FHIR” Under Health Information Exchange
A new data standard, known as the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) has become the de facto standard for sharing medical and other health-related information. With its modern, web-based approach to health information exchange, FHIR promises to enable a new world of possibilities rooted in patient-centered care. While this new world is just emerging, it promises to give patients unfettered access to their own health information — allowing them to decide what they want to share and with whom and demanding careful consideration of data privacy and security.
8. Reducing the Burden of Health Care Administration
se of AI to automate routine and highly repetitious administrative functions. In the U.S., more than 25% of health care expenditures are due to administrative costs, far surpassing all other developed nations. One important area where AI could have a sizeable impact is medical coding and billing, where AI can develop automated approaches. The goal is to help reduce the complexity of the coding and billing process thereby reducing the number of mistakes and minimize the need for intense regulatory oversight.
9. A Revolution in Acute Stroke Care
Stroke is a major cause of death and disability across the world and a significant source of health care spending. Each year in the U.S., nearly 800,000 people suffer from a stroke, with a cost of roughly $34 billion. AI tools to help automate the diagnostic journey of ischemic stroke can help determine whether there is bleeding within the brain — a crucial early insight that helps doctors select the proper treatment. These algorithms can automatically review a patient’s head CT scan to identify a cerebral hemorrhage as well as help localize its source and determine the volume of brain tissue affected.
10. The Hidden Signs of Intimate Partner Violence
Researchers are working to develop AI-enabled tools that can help alert clinicians if a patient’s injuries likely stem from intimate partner violence (IPV). Through an AI-enabled system, they hope to help break the silence that surrounds IPV by empowering clinicians with powerful, data-driven tools. While screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) can help detect and prevent future violence, less than 30% of IPV cases seen in the ER are appropriately flagged as abuse-related. Health care providers are optimistic that AI tools will further complement their role as a trusted source for divulging abuse.
11. Voice-first Technology Comes to Health Care
AI-powered, voice-first technology is coming to the clinic. Using speech recognition and natural language processing, several companies are developing tools designed to help clinicians deliver better care and provide more of what matters: quality time with patients. Voice assistants are being explored for reducing physicians’ data entry burdens. Health care technology companies are developing applications that can run on consumer-grade voice technology platforms while complying with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA.
12. Narrowing the Gaps in Mental Health Care
In the U.S., mental illness has reached epidemic proportions; nearly one in five adults grapples with a mental disorder, and opioid addiction and misuse claim the lives of more than 130 adults every day. Promising innovation is being seen in the integration of rigorously validated mental health methods into smartphone apps. One AI app under development is for patients with opioid, alcohol, and other forms of drug addiction with co-occurring mental illness. The app provides patients with a virtual form of integrated group therapy (IGT), a highly effective treatment that teaches behaviors and skills to manage recovery and prevent relapse.
