Technology Will Watson make us irrelevant?

[iMA Editor SM]

There's been a lot in the news lately about how Watson (and by extension advance computing/bioinformatics systems) will play a prominent role in the practice of medicine.

Last week, IBM/MD Anderson announced a prototype system they intend to launch that will actually make patient-specific chemotherapy recommendations for certain malignancies. Its not that long ago that Watson was unveiled. At this pace of development, I'm curious about how future physicians/healthcare professionals think these tools will impact how they practice medicine.

Here's some background including the most recent announcement about the Oncology Adviser platform.

http://bit.ly/H5an0P
http://bit.ly/eXXSeY
http://bit.ly/lD561N

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[bluefalcon32]

Well Watson is being trained at the Cleveland Clinic in general medicine and at Sloan Kettering in cancer diagnosis and treatment. So it is not a surprise. I feel that with time, Watson will become a key asset but doubt that it will replace MDs. It may be useful to verify diagnoses down the line or by insurance companies to screen potential treatment approaches. One cannot predict the future but one should prepare for technology to play a more prominent role in our future.

 

[Stroganoff]

I don't see it as all-or-nothing. I hope it's a win-win for providers and patients.