Amazon would be supposed to sell software that reads medical records

Amazon would have started selling software that could read medical records and make suggestions for improving treatments or saving money, according to Amazon. the the Wall Street newspaper.

The program analyzes medical records to select relevant information such as the patient's state of health, procedures and prescriptions. Doctors' abbreviations have thwarted other algorithms that are trying to do the same thing, but Amazon claims to have trained its system to recognize idiosyncrasies in the way doctors take notes. WSJ. The company had already developed and sold the same software to other companies, including those dedicated to travel booking and customer service. For Amazon, this is a new advance in the health care market after the retailer bought the PillPack online pharmacy in June.

Amazon is only the last technological company to play a role in health care. Last year, Microsoft launched a new healthcare division that plans to focus on the use of artificial intelligence to improve patient care. Earlier this month, Apple partnered with the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide veterans with access to their electronic records on the iPhone. It has long positioned its Apple Watch as a medical device rather than a fitness device, in partnership with Stanford University to conduct a study on cardiovascular health and even incorporating an FDA-approved electrocardiogram function (EKG) in the latest version of the portable technology.

Of course, not all efforts have been successful. In truth, formerly Google Life Sciences, its highly visible program has been paused to create a smart contact that can detect glucose in tears.

Given that Amazon already had text analysis technology, the company's giant would be well-advised to enter the health care market. But the field of electronic health records is very controversial. Although efforts have been made to digitize medical records, the ebb and flow of eHealth technology has led many patients to create a fragmented paper trail full of gaps. In the recent, evocative title New Yorker article "Why do doctors hate their computers?" Atul Gawande explains how doctors are frustrated with the whole process and observes that the different software systems for medical records seem to have contributed to the exhaustion professional.

Hopefully, Amazon's entry into the electronic health records space will help address the problem and not add to the existing pain.