Machine Learning in Healthcare

Whether they practice medicine in a hospital or a community clinic, healthcare workers are facing an exponential increase in the amount of patient information needed to effectively treat their patients. This will require the application of sophisticated'big data' techniques such as machine learning to process, analyse and surface information that will assist in creating more personalised healthcare plans. That's according to Orion Health CEO Ian McCrae, whose company has today released a report on the application of machine learning in healthcare. The report's publication coincides with the official launch at the University of Auckland of Precision Driven Health - one of the largest data science research initiatives to be undertaken in this country, which aims to position New Zealand at the forefront of precision health globally. "The electronic health record is fast becoming the most powerful tool in the medical toolkit. Today it contains a patient's medical record, soon it will include genetic, environmental and social data and will be critical in the application of precision medicine or personalised healthcare," Mr McCrae says.