Machine Learning and Big Data are certainly the two pivots around which Healthcare would be delivered in the future, Things are going to be no different in India. On the other hand I think the use of these advanced technologies are the only way out to secure access to care of the billion plus in the country.

One one of the areas that this can be used very effectively is in disease surveillance. A good example is how Germany is leveraging weather data to warn citizens on the health hazards of sunlight for example. Germany has been sharing ‘health-weather’ forecasting for three decades now. Newspapers not only carry the weather data, but also include information such as likely diseases accompanying the weather (upto 40 different diseases are covered) as well as symptoms (such as irritation, insomnia). On TV, varying degrees of symptoms and diseases are also provided. This website provides flu activity, pollen allergy and UV burns related information or Dachau in Germany. Media company AccuWeather now provides such health forecast for other countries too, like this one focused on allergies in New York city. For the complete article do click the link here.

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All this is possible because of the confluence of machine learning and big data.Weather satellites store tonnes of information and this is used courtesy Big Data to improve health parameters. Through machine learning these sites are able to provide contextual information to users. Healthcare can greatly benefit from these technologies and the good news is that they are already available in India.

Lybrate which is an online doctor consultation platform that enables users to communicate with doctors from anywhere, anytime. The company has best used technology to bridge the gap between patients and doctors by enabling them to talk with each other, thus democratizing healthcare in the country.

 The huge data the company has generated, since it launched its platform in January 2015, made it introduce machine learning to suggest customized healthcare solutions to its users.
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Machine learning facilitates learning of users’ interest and preferences over time to create a customized Health Feed, consisting of health tips from doctors themselves and free answers by doctors to questions asked on the platform. This prevents users from getting bogged down by information not much of their interest.
Besides, when users ask queries on the platform, they do not know which doctor is best suited for them. Machine learning fixes this issue by deciphering users’ query across more than 15 parameters in real time and help them get answers from relevant doctors.
“In the times of information overload, customized solutions are important for patient engagement. Machine learning captures the user behavior and helps push only that information which is relevant for them,” said Saurabh Arora, Founder & CEO, Lybrate.
So clearly Machine Learning and Big Data are already being used by the government, industry and startups to improve standards of care. But there is lot left to be done, mainstream adoption is still far away with most hospitals and care providers still trying out these advanced technologies before the mainstream integration into the industry. A lot would depend on medical colleges and schools as well as they prepare to educate doctors and physicians.

Are you leveraging machine learning and big data in your business ? Do let me know your perspectives.