AI and Predictive Analytics in Behavioral Health (Part 2)
Artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive analytics have the potential to completely transform healthcare. They will play a significant role in behavioral health in the years to come. How? We began discussing the possibilities in a previous post on AI and predictive analytics.
In that post, we discussed:
- Predictive diagnosis and detection
- Improved diagnostic accuracy
- More personalized treatments.
This second post will follow up with an additional four things to pay attention to. So if you are ready, let us continue the discussion with more information about this exciting and emerging technology trend. As a leading behavioral health management company, we are extremely enthusiastic about the potential AI and predictive analytics have for transforming our industry.
1. Preventative Patient Monitoring
One of the keys to maximizing outcomes in behavioral health is patient monitoring. Providers want to stay abreast of how patients are doing for the purposes of heading off issues before they arise. It turns out that AI and predictive analytics can significantly improve monitoring. They can open the door to more preventive intervention.
Wearable devices will lead the charge in this regard. They will be complimented by mobile apps that encourage patients to interact with their providers more frequently outside the office. The data collected by wearable devices and mobile apps will be crunched by AI algorithms to give clinicians better direction in helping their patients.
2. Improved Therapeutic Development
AI’s biggest advantage in healthcare is arguably its ability to improve therapeutic development. As things currently stand, developing new therapies is a long and arduous process that can take years, if not decades. AI promises to shorten that time considerably. It should also improve the quality that new therapies bring to the table.
Everything from new medications to revolutionary treatment protocols will be approached differently when AI and predictive analytics become the norm. Since therapeutic development will be entirely data driven, developing new medications and protocols will be both easier and more productive.
3. Improved Resource Allocation
AI and predictive analytics are starting to play a role in resource allocation. No doubt that role is much appreciated by health systems already stretched thin. With AI and predictive analytics, health systems can do a better job of predicting demand, recognizing potential outbreaks and pandemics, and identify all sorts of risks.
With the knowledge we glean from the two technologies, we will be able to allocate resources more effectively. Where more resources are warranted, they can be applied. Where fewer resources are needed, some can be pulled back and reallocated for more important things.
4. More Efficient Administration
This final concept is one we feel is particularly important in our role as a behavioral health management and consulting company: more efficient administration. Needless to say that the digital transformation has come to behavioral health. As more organizations embrace digital, there are more opportunities for administration to get bogged down in the very technology designed to streamline it. AI can change that.
A big advantage of AI in the administrative arena is automation. By building automation into software packages, developers can eliminate the technology chokepoints that often prevent people from maximizing software capabilities. Eliminating those chokepoints makes administration more efficient while simultaneously minimizing errors and maximizing data flow.
If it seems like we are big proponents of AI and predictive analytics, it is because we are. We have seen a lot of changes in both behavioral health management and healthcare service provision over the years. Since we have been in business, nothing has shown itself to have as much potential as AI and predictive analytics. These two technologies will absolutely turn healthcare on its head.