Research surveys conducted by MarketsandMarkets one of the crucial influencers in the B2B field exhibit that the global market for healthcare IT integration in 2021 was valued at $3.9 billion. The study predicts that the hold IT has over the healthcare market will only increase manifold. By 2026, this is estimated to expand to $7.1 billion with a CAGR of 12.4%. The service segment of the healthcare ecosystem accounts for the largest shareholder (60.8%) in this respect.
The two fronts of software: product(media integration, interface engine, medical device integration) and service (integration, maintenance, training, and consulting), are embraced through IT integration. Natural Language Processing (NLP) is one such technology proving this fact and is a massive game-changer in today’s age.
A subset of AI, NLP, assists machines in processing and understanding human language to perform mundane tasks. This means you save money and time and enhance production and efficiency. NLP has wholly transformed people’s view of efficient healthcare management systems. It has altered the medical fraternity’s approach toward treatment, offering patients more effective and efficient answers to their problems.
How NLP works?
NLP analyzes various aspects of human speech and text, such as syntax, pragmatics, semantics, and morphology. Then deep learning models transform this linguistic knowledge into rule-based machine learning algorithms. These algorithms then help perform specific desired tasks. Thus, unstructured data is converted to a usable form, helping medical practitioners analyze and make informed and effective decisions.
Benefits of Using NLP in Healthcare
Leveraging NLP for healthcare solutions is more than managing and delivering care solutions.
The gap between consumers and providers on either side of the healthcare industry gets bridged through the incorporation of NLP algorithms, which-
- maintain and manage an efficient and organized system of analyzing patient records.
- seek out discrepancies in the system.
- identifies changes in the health status of patients and recognizes early warning signs.
- presents data in a consumable format for easy understanding by patients.
Now, after gaining a short glimpse at the remarkable benefits of incorporating NLP technology with healthcare, let’s discuss some of the practical use cases.
NLP Use Cases In Healthcare
- Documentation and Medical Records
NLP has algorithms that can evaluate data and extract useful information, saving the time and effort required in case of manual handling. Furthermore, in case of missing information, NLP can assist in identifying the gap and recommend relevant revisions to create accurate and comprehensive records.
- Diagnosis and Treatment Recommendation
Complex patient data- symptoms, medical history, and test results are analyzed by NLP algorithms to create a list of possible diagnoses and therapy recommendations. Thus, aiding medical practitioners in making informed decisions and providing effective and efficient solutions.
- Decision Support
NLP provides medical practitioners with real-time information and insights on any disease or condition, including diagnosis, treatment options available, and potential risks obtained from medical literature, guidelines, etc.
- Patient Monitoring and Management
NLP incorporates techniques to efficiently monitor and manage patient records to assist clinicians in reviewing the patient’s vital signs and medical background to discover changes in their health state and early warning signals of potential problems.
- Clinical Trials and Research
Vast amounts of data are analyzed by medical researchers using NLP to find patterns and trends in patient populations, which aids in the creation of practical clinical trials and treatment strategies.
- Healthcare Administration and Management
Healthcare administration and management use NLP to streamline processes and improve efficiency. NLP algorithms can reduce the time and effort to process data manually by automating the process of coding medical records, freeing medical professionals to focus on more critical tasks.
Here are the top 5 practical NLP use cases TechVariable has worked on.
NLP Use Case TechVariable Has Worked On
A leading integrated clinical technology company in India approached us to help them create modules for their healthcare application. One of the modules incorporated NLP in the form of a chatbot. The bot was created to ease the cumbersome task of administrating and managing data to improve efficiency. Google Dialogflow was used for this purpose. The chatbot’s primary function was to aid visitors in selecting services and setting up meetings.
Conclusion
Being part of the healthcare service provider community is tough work in itself. The usage of modern IT solutions such as NLP succeeds in creating tangible as well as intangible benefits, such as an increase in customer satisfaction and efficiency in care management and services provided. NLP has significantly changed how medical professionals approach and treat patients. The cases discussed above provide a small glimpse into NLP’s vast potential to revolutionalize the medical field. It can help innovate solutions to offer the best possible outcomes. Thus, NLP and healthcare make a remarkable team.
