Google Reshapes the Era of AI and Automation in Healthcare
Google has become a major player in integrating AI and automation in healthcare with its AI-powered solutions, mainly Med-PaLM 2 and Vertex AI.
- Augmedix Go, an application developed in collaboration with Augmedix, simplifies medical note generation by recording patient conversations, benefiting HCA Healthcare.
- Bayer Pharma utilizes Med-PaLM 2 and Google Cloud’s Vertex AI to expedite drug discovery, automating tasks like clinical trial communications.
On August 29th, Google announced how some healthcare organizations are using its large language models (LLMs) to improve administrative and operational processes.
Back in April, Google offered its LLM, Med-PaLM 2, to a select few customers for testing and feedback. This AI tool provides expert responses to medical queries, having been trained on questions and answers from medical licensing exams. But search engine parent has more than one ace up its sleeve: Google Cloud’s Vertex AI. This AI is a managed platform helping businesses build, deploy, and scale AI models.
According to a 2021 study, over 50% of healthcare providers regularly experience stress related to healthcare information tech. Google’s response? Augmedix Go, a Med-PaLM 2 application created in collaboration with the medical documentation company Augmedix. This nifty app enables doctors and nurses to effortlessly generate medical notes by simply recording conversations with patients. HCA Healthcare, which operates over 180 hospitals and numerous clinics and care centers across the United States, is the first to give the application a trial run.
Doctors using Augmedix Go can create medical notes, which are then reviewed for accuracy before being transferred to the hospital’s electronic health record (EHR). So far, the feedback has been positive, indicating a promising future for AI and automation in healthcare.
Speaking of EHRs, known for their complexity, it makes information retrieval challenging for clinicians. Meditech, one of the largest EHR software providers, is exploring Med-PaLM 2’s potential as a powerful search engine for medical records. Clinicians could use chatbots to access patient records, clinical guidelines, and research articles, significantly improving the efficiency of healthcare information retrieval.
Now, let’s talk about Google’s AI and drugs.
Bayer Pharma, a healthcare giant known for being the originator and first marketer of aspirin, is leveraging AI to expedite drug discovery. Developing new pharmaceutical products typically takes 12 to 15 years and costs over $1 billion. Bayer is using Med-PaLM 2 and Google Cloud’s Vertex AI to expedite drug discovery. Researchers at Bayer can efficiently access, identify, and correlate research data, automating time-consuming tasks like drafting clinical trial communications and translations.
Despite the overall sentiment surrounding AI at the moment, Google, with its innovations, is becoming an integral part of the streamlining and automation in healthcare.
Inside Telecom provides you with an extensive list of content covering all aspects of the Tech industry. Keep an eye on our Medtech section to stay informed and updated with our daily articles.