Today there is a bottleneck in the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning – real-world data collection. AI and machine learning models require large datasets to become proficient at a task. But preparing these datasets for model training is both costly and labor intensive. It is a conundrum, and the lack of large, accurately labeled datasets for specific applications is holding back the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Some say synthetic data offers a solution – data that imitates real-world data.

Three healthcare CIOs believe 2020 will come with exciting opportunities as well as challenges -- not unlike 2019. They are heading into the new year with the goal of building a more digitally-focused healthcare system. They're also focused on improving the patient experience through continuous patient monitoring and predictive analytics backed by artificial intelligence and machine learning programs, telehealth services and greater access to data. Arthur Harvey, Boston Medical Center CIO, said one challenge he foresees is integrating data across the continuum of care. Here are their biggest takeaways from 2019 and what's on their agendas for the new year.

Health IT giant Allscripts Healthcare Solutions will have a massive footprint on the HIMSS19 exhibit floor. It will be showcasing its popular electronic health record system and other related technologies. And the company will be focusing discussions with HIMSS19 attendees on two trends it says are key in 2019: consumers demanding better healthcare and technology experiences and machine learning gleaning more insights from patient data. The transition from patient to consumer has progressed, said Allscripts CEO Paul M. Black. "People are taking more ownership of their healthcare, and they expect user-friendly technologies to help them do so," he said.