Using Machine Learning to Identify Patients Likely to Miss Their Dose

Bengaluru-based multi-speciality hospital chain Narayana Hrudyalaya (NH), which announced its IPO at the start of 2016, has 54 facilities all across India. At its different hospitals, Narayana carries out 650 to 700 cardiac surgeries each month. Speaking at the sidelines of a conference organised by Microsoft India last month, Kumar KV, Vice President at NH chatted with Gadgets 360 about how technology was changing the field of medicine, with immediate developments in fields such as 3D printing, along with long term projects such as the use of deep learning to improve the predictive capabilities of hospitals. At the same conference, Sriram Rajamani, Managing Director at Microsoft Research, India, explained that we are now beyond the point of just talking about machine learning, as gradual improvements in algorithms, and gradual increases in computing power, along with distributed and data processing via the cloud are making it possible for machines to have a quantifiable impact in the field of medicine. For example, Microsoft Research is currently running a project called 99Dots to improve medication adherence for tuberculosis patients.