AI use in healthcare ramps up for app maker Cognoa

The healthcare industry has not traditionally been considered a technology pioneer, but in spite of some built-in obstacles, medical technology companies are making strides, particularly with the use of AI tools. That's the case with Cognoa, a health IT vendor that develops apps for helping parents and clinicians diagnose autism and other child behavioral health problems. Cognoa's machine learning-based tool was recently recognized by the Food and Drug Administration as a medical device to aid in the diagnosis of autism. The company currently provides an app that is available to parents and caregivers through their employers' benefits and through a network of therapy service providers. Halim Abbas, Cognoa's chief AI officer, said AI use in healthcare has been challenging in part because privacy regulations limit what you can do with patient data, including making that personal health data less available.