Potential IBM Watson Health Sale Puts Focus on Data Challenges

Even so, some experts found that it can be difficult to apply AI to treating complex medical conditions. Having access to data that represents patient populations broadly has been a challenge, experts told the Journal, and gaps in knowledge about complex diseases may not be fully captured in clinical databases. "I believe that we're many years away from AI products that really positively impact clinical care for many patients," said Bob Kocher, a partner at venture-capital firm Venrock who focuses on healthcare IT and services investments and who was a White House health adviser under President Barack Obama. Software that makes recommendations on personal medical treatments needs data on what actions have worked in the past. But data on medical histories and treatment outcomes aren't always complete, may be recorded in different formats, and may be sitting in various systems owned by insurance carriers, health providers and other organizations.