Patient autonomy and medical algorithms
9 December 2021

Tags

autonomy

Of course, the patient is the chairman of his own “Health Ltd”. But does he also serve as CEO? In the case of a rather acute condition, there are perhaps not many options to choose from. Usually, the physician takes the position of CEO in those situations. But there is an increasing number of chronically ill people. They have to step up and be the CEO since it is up to them to find strategies to live with their condition.

Yet, why not use a machine-learning program that will come up with a suitable solution for most health problems? Machine learning can automate a great deal of medical care. Problems arise where there are no clear, binary answers, e.g. the bus driver, who had to stop working because his hypertension medication caused him to urinate very often. According to the WHO, we have a shortage of health care professionals. But if the workforce increases, what tasks would the staff do? Probably a lot of paperwork. In healthcare today, administrative work is essential, since documentation is the backbone of how it makes money. Machine learning programs could probably handle a lot of that workload. This means that tasks that belong to “soft skilled” work will most likely be more in demand in the future. But a bridge between machine thinking and human thinking is needed. A tool for healthcare professionals that helps them understand the suggestions that the machine learning engine gives. As an example, a doctor explains results from an AI program for a patient. The results suggest a specific path of procedures that should be undertaken. This could be one field where LYMPHA could be used.

The programming language LYMPHA explains medical reasoning. For patients who want to be involved in the decision-making process, the reasoning is crucial. But if the patient thinks that it is up to the doctor to make a proper decision, then the patient is usually not very interested in the reasoning. Future development of LYMPHA will therefore not be focused on applications where the patient is the end-user.

References https://www.who.int/workforcealliance/about/hrh_crisis/en/