AI, quantum computing and other technologies poised to transform healthcare

Photo: Al David Sacks/Getty Images

The COVID-19 pandemic has created numerous challenges in healthcare, but challenges can sometimes breed innovation. Technological innovation in particular is poised to change the way care is delivered, driving efficiency in the process. Efficiency will be key as hospitals and health systems look to recover from the initial, devastating wave of the pandemic.

Ryan Hodgin, chief technology officer for IBM Global Healthcare, and Kate Huey, partner at IBM Healthcare, will speak about some of these technological innovations in their digital HIMSS21 session, "Innovation Driven Resiliency: Redefining What's Possible." 

The technology in question can encompass telehealth, artificial intelligence, automation, blockchain, chatbots, apps and other elements that have become mainstays of healthcare during the course of the pandemic.

In a way, science fiction is becoming science fact: Technologies that were once in the experimental phase are now coming to life and driving innovation, particularly quantum computing. The power of quantum computing has the potential to transform healthcare just by sheer force of its impressive computational power.

One of the big factors accelerating technological innovation is the healthcare workforce, which has been placed under enormous stress over the past 18 months, with many doctors and clinicians reporting burnout or feelings of being overwhelmed. These technologies promise to reduce the burden being felt by providers.

Importantly, they also promise to more actively engage healthcare consumers, who increasingly expect healthcare to be as user friendly and experience driven as their favorite apps or online shopping portals.

Hodgin and Huey will speak more on the topic when their digital session debuts on Tuesday, August 10, from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.