Today I was watching the national news and I saw a IBM television commercial about there new Watson computer system that is going to help doctors diagnose peoples Hard to figure out health problems--
The commercial showed a picture Perfect Lyme bullseye rash and then showed a picture of a Tick right next to it-- Showing Problem Solved --
I figured you all would like to know about this- --Jay--
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Like they say, it's smarter than a person!!
esp smarter than most doctors!!
Posted by James1979 (Member # 31926) on :
I think this is scary, and will only be used to give more power to the insurance companies so that they can further deny coverage.
Look at this quote:
quote:The program, which is scheduled to roll out next year, will begin by assisting nurses who manage complex patient cases. It will help the insurer to review treatment requests from medical providers.
Stage two will put the technology out in the field to a limited number of oncology practices. There, the system�s ability to process 200 million pages of data in three seconds will allow doctors to ask questions, input symptoms, and compare reactions to treatments to streamline the process. The goal is to improve quality of care with cost-savings as the natural byproduct.
�There are breathtaking advances in medical science and clinical knowledge, however; this clinical information is not always used in the care of patients,� said Sam Nussbaum, M.D., WellPoint�s Chief Medical Officer. �Imagine having the ability to take in all the information around a patient�s medical care � symptoms, findings, patient interviews and diagnostic studies. Then, imagine using Watson analytic capabilities to consider all of the prior cases, the state-of-the-art clinical knowledge in the medical literature and clinical best practices to help a physician advance a diagnosis and guide a course of treatment.
�We believe this will be an invaluable resource for our partnering physicians and will dramatically enhance the quality and effectiveness of medical care they deliver to our members.�[/qb]
For example, take the example they showed of the bull's eye and the tick next to it. If over 50% of Lyme patients never get the bull's eye, and if Watson follows the IDSA guidelines (which it definitely would, since it's in the hands of the insurance companies), then Watson will insist that the patient doesn't have Lyme disease.
Likewise, even if the patient has the bull's eye, it will suggest 2-4 weeks of abx. If the patient returns, it'll suggest that the patient has psychological problems.
How is this good? How is this revolutionary? I don't like it.
If you think about it - it's very ironic that they used the example of the EM "bull's eye" rash with the tick next to it. What about those people (like myself) who never got the rash?
Furthermore, they will require that the computers know EVERYTHING about us. I can't imagine anyone here would feel comfortable with that.
Just my opinions.
Posted by James1979 (Member # 31926) on :
I forgot to mention: I bold-faced the "oncology" sentence above to point out how corrupt the system will be. The entire field of oncology is a joke. They will program the system to suggest that everyone needs the "Big 3", or Surgery, Chemo, and Radiation (cut, poison, and burn).
If it were a TRUE intelligent computer, it would be suggesting things like: "This patient needs to drastically change his diet. He has to quit smoking. He should be taking more vitamin C, and his D levels are also low... He should eliminate FDA-approved artificial ingredients from his diet." etc.
Posted by ralphi (Member # 33834) on :
I agree with James. Watson will probably narrow the accepted treatment options even further, for any disease.
Also, it depersonalizes the patient even more; forget individualized treatment altogether.
I can see where it COULD be useful as a research tool (like a medical version of Google), but nothing can possibly take the place of caring for the person AS a person.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
You're right, James. My "joke" was that so many doctors don't even recognize a bullseye as being Lyme. They go with "spider bite" all too often.
Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
I agree. Garbage in, garbage out is the old rule about computers.
Posted by groovy2 (Member # 6304) on :
UP
Posted by gmb (Member # 23562) on :
On the Sunday am show "Meet the Press" I saw one of the IBM medical comercials too, and not paying too close attention saw a small list of text with "Lyme Disease" at the top of the list near the end of the 30 second spot. The comercial was not repeated for rest of show.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)