Cognitive Computing in Healthcare: Q&A Series – Part 1

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In the age of cognitive computing, where intelligent machines simulate human brain capabilities to help solve society’s most vexing problems, the healthcare industry is at the forefront. Already, cognitive systems help enable enhanced patient care, advanced discoveries and better decisions for providers around the world.

This Q&A is part of a series of interviews following the release of the IBM Institute for Business Value(IBV) paper: “A booster shot for health and wellness: Your cognitive future in the healthcare industry”. As the healthcare industry evaluates how cognitive computing can be utilised to its advantage, June Thomson (Healthcare Industry Leader in IBM Sales & Distribution, UK & Ireland) tells us what this means for IBM’s clients.

Q: Why should Healthcare Organisations read the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) Study on Cognitive Computing?

A: The IBV paper is an informative introduction to Cognitive Computing and what it could mean for the Industry. Healthcare Leaders and Clinicians can benefit from understanding how cognitive computing can aid in enabling change. Increasing costs due to ageing populations with one or more chronic conditions mean that Healthcare providers are required to enable patients to take more responsibility for their own health care and to focus more on the prevention of ill health due to lifestyle choices.

Q: Does the Healthcare industry understand the capability of Cognitive Computing?

A: The main driving force of cognitive computing from IBM is Watson. However most clinicians do not keep abreast of IT developments, and the fame of Watson on Jeopardy can be lost of UK clients who are not aware of the US based show. As IBM approaches healthcare clients to explain the capabilities of Watson, there is a lightbulb moment and imaginations run riot, identifying use cases for Watson that we in the technical world would never think of. As described in the Welltok example within the IBV study, Healthcare Executives think about how they could use Watson to reduce costs and increase efficiency by keeping patients out of hospital.

Q: Cognitive computing is often described as being able to outperform humans in many areas – how does this make IBM’s Healthcare clients feel?

Cognitive Computing can cause a level of nervousness, with the first reaction by IBM’s clients being that Watson is an AI (artificial intelligence) system. Effective communication about the capability of cognitive computing is essential; when this is done then the client can see the potential for Watson and big data to help them make effective decisions.

Q: Are IBM’s Healthcare clients prepared for a change to Cognitive healthcare?

The current situation in the UK is not sustainable and there are a varying stages of IT maturity within UK Healthcare organisations. There are many sources of clinical data but anonymised data sharing is an issue. Most of the UK GP (General Practitioner) systems are digitised so there is a rich source of data at that level, however in the acute sector not all hospitals have effective electronic patient records systems. On the other hand, the private healthcare sector has shown great interest in cognitive systems and is thinking of innovative ways of using Watson to help better serve their patients. The situation will improve when the patient begins to act more like a consumer and takes ownership of their own data.

Q: Are IBM’s UK Healthcare clients in a position to embrace Cognitive Computing now?
In the UK, the availability of patient data and whether the data is digitised is the starting point to embrace Cognitive Computing, and varies widely across the country. Data quantity is an issue as not all hospitals have EPRs and many are working with paper records. To enable Cognitive Computing, data sharing should also be enabled which can be varied and limited.

Q: What are the main challenges faced by IBM’s clients in implementing Cognitive Computing systems?
The NHS is in the news every day with another crisis reported. Many hospitals are in special measures and it was reported in mid-October that there was a £2BN deficit in the first 3 months of the government’s fiscal year. Radical change is required. The biggest challenge to implementing Cognitive Computing is the ‘prep work’ (data digitisation, staff skills, staff acceptance). IBM’s customers are more inclined to start on the journey to Cognitive Computing if evidence of outcomes can be demonstrated, and the number of examples is growing. For example, Watson is being used as an assistant and decision support tool for oncologists. Cognitive Computing is an ambitious path for a client to travel with IBM, but at IBM we are determined to make a difference in a big way.

Q: How can IBM improve the insufficient skill base that is identified as the challenge for the Healthcare Industry when moving to Cognitive Computing?
Clients recognise the lack of health informatics and analytics skills which will be required in the cognitive world. At IBM, we are working with UK Universities to design data analytics courses so that new students can become recognised data analytics professionals.

Q: What are IBM’s clients most excited about for the future of Healthcare with Cognitive Computing?

The ability to share knowledge that is based on sound data and insights. In the developed world we have extremely competent, experienced and skilled clinicians. This is not true for the undeveloped world. Watson can ensure that hospitals in remote and underserved areas of the world can give their patients the same high quality treatment they would experience in the UK or USA. As the IBV paper highlights, Cognitive Computing is also key to delivering healthcare in the future due to the forecasted decline in students entering the medical profession. Using a cognitive system as an assistant will enable the clinician to spend more time with their patient and be confident that they are prescribing the optimum care pathway or treatment.

Q: What is the future of Cognitive Computing in the Healthcare industry?
Cognitive Computing will definitely happen! But first, the current system needs help in terms of skill shortage of clinicians, providing insight on population health, efficacy of new drugs and giving patients access to information in a very user friendly way so that they can take more responsibility for their own health and care.

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About June Thomson

June Thomson (IBM Sales & Distribution, Enterprise - UKI Healthcare Industry Leader) has been UKI Industry Leader since July 2013. She is passionate about enabling healthcare providers to deliver better patient outcomes and optimise the patient experience using IBM healthcare solutions. June has been with IBM for over 20 years in a variety of roles beginning in engineering and product development. After a transfer to Public Sector Sales she was the Client Relationship Executive for a variety of IBM Government clients and the Global Client Relationship Exec for GSK. Her previous experience recently includes Sales Director within IBM’s Global Business Partner Organisation and Director of Public Sector for IBM’s Systems and Technology Group. June is actively involved in external programmes which promote STEM careers to females and is a member of IBM UK Women’s Leadership Team.

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