The Future of Healthcare

A paradigm shift is happening in healthcare.

From ink to paper, then from keyboard to electronic medical records, providers have consistently been measuring and documenting health data since the dawn of medicine.

Typically providers use that patient specific data to infer a diagnosis, monitor the effects of treatment, and to determine recovery. Now, with the integration of powerful prediction into health, comes a shift from diagnostics on an individual level towards prediction at scale.

Prediction is the process of filling in missing information.?Prediction takes information you have, often called “data”, and uses it to generate information you don’t have.

Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence

Computer models can take humongous amounts of data and make smart predictions. Thanks to progress made through artificial intelligence (AI), there is potential for the use of massive pools of data to fill-in missing information across industries that would create a more seamless and holistic experience for those involved.?

Language is at its base a communication tool, with the advent of computer technology it has become a prediction problem. Think, when GMail suggests predictive text to end your email with a well thought out email sign off!

Recently, the hype around ChatGPT has been justified as ChatGPT has been able to solve this problem by accurately predicting the best response to a user-entered prompt through a model that has been refined and trained on VAST amounts of data.??

A medical diagnosis can be thought of as a prediction problem, using data that you have (e.g. health history, subjective and objective data) to generate information you don’t have (e.g. prediction of the presence of cancer using smartphone technology).?

Beyond diagnosis, prediction can be, and is by some already being, applied in health across many avenues. Understanding what sub-groups of patients and/or individuals will respond best to a prescribed treatment, how long someone may end up staying in the hospital or even individual risk of readmission after discharge can all be modeled with greater confidence using prediction, which can be hugely impactful for both providers and payers navigating complex patient journeys.

FIGUR8’s mission is to set a new data standard specifically in musculoskeletal (MSK) health by bringing predictive, and eventually prescriptive, capabilities to the patient journey. The bioMotion Assessment Platform or bMAP, built by FIGUR8, can measure and collect MSK biomarkers with the same accuracy as a full scale biomechanics lab without the technological and training barriers that exist with bringing this into every clinic.?

Today, that means better and more objective data in the hands of the provider.?

Tomorrow, as the predictive capabilities of FIGUR8 grows, that becomes the ability to predict the presence of an injury or disease, monitor the effects of treatment, and determine recovery with more accuracy than ever before.

That’s how we are thinking about the future of health.?With hope that prediction will lead to a truly personalized, data-driven approach to care.

What kind of hope do you have for prediction in healthcare?