[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2016\/09\/thrival-upmc-enterprises\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2016\/09\/thrival-upmc-enterprises\/","headline":"Machine Learning: Making Health Care More Personal","name":"Machine Learning: Making Health Care More Personal","description":"Machine learning is poised to make a big impact on medicine. Learn how it could change the way deadly diseases are diagnosed and treated. ","datePublished":"2016-09-06","dateModified":"2018-08-29","author":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/","name":"UPMC","url":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/","sameAs":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/upmc\/","parentOrganization":"UPMC"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"UPMC HealthBeat","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/UPMC-Enterprises.jpg","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/UPMC-Enterprises.jpg","height":527,"width":791},"url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2016\/09\/thrival-upmc-enterprises\/","about":["Living and Wellness"],"wordCount":732,"keywords":["artificial intelligence","future of health care","health care technology","machine learning","thrival innovation and music festival","upmc enterprises"],"articleBody":"You schedule a doctor\u2019s appointment and immediately your phone buzzes with a notification \u2014 you\u2019re now eligible to save a few hundred bucks on your deductible.It may not be a reality quite yet, but experts at UPMC Enterprises say machine learning, advanced access to patient data, and artificial intelligence could soon make your medical care a lot more personal.\u201cImagine getting an alert that tells you you\u2019re close to getting a deduction,\u201d said Mohinder Dick, senior software architect at UPMC Enterprises. \u201cI routinely get those kinds of updates from my cable company or Amazon. Why can\u2019t we get the same convenience from health care?\u201dUPMC Enterprises engineers and analysts see a future in which artificial intelligence does away with one-size-fits-all medicine \u2014 from custom health alerts delivered to your smartphone to specialized genetic sequencing that offers pinpointed diagnosis and treatment for life-threatening conditions.It\u2019s the same disruptive mindset that transformed the retail, cable, and transportation industries. What Is Machine Learning?Machine learning is a type of artificial intelligence that enables computers to learn and gather information without first being programmed. In other words, it allows computers to teach themselves. Though just in its infancy, this technology can assist doctors in developing more effective diagnosis and treatment, preventing prescription errors, and much more. In real life, you deal with machine learning every day. Things like your Facebook feed or the digital advertisements you see on your web browser are examples of machine learning.Courtland Longest, Director of Product, Precision Medicine, at UPMC Enterprises, said doctors could someday examine a patient\u2019s specific genome to develop customized treatment. A diagnosis may not be \u201ccolon cancer\u201d or \u201clung cancer,\u201d but a distinct combination of molecular subtypes.\u201cThis can help tell us what drugs will work or won\u2019t work on someone,\u201d Longest said. \u201cWhereas before, maybe you were given a certain drug because that\u2019s just what everyone else was given.\u201dOne example of machine learning in motion: The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations that significantly increase a woman\u2019s risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Researchers were able to detect a connection between these mutations and cancer by studying thousands of patient records.Now, women carrying this mutation can take measures to prevent breast cancer before it occurs. Longest and Dick said they envision machine learning someday greatly impacting cardiology, neonatal care, and even diabetes.\u201cImagine us mining patient data and finding those correlations to illness,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s where predictive medicine is really going to take off.\u201dUPMC Enterprises teams work at a cross-section between medicine and technology \u2014 developing methods to make everything from routine visits to the doctor\u2019s office to paying your insurance premium more tailored to your needs as a patient.Longest said the Pittsburgh-based UPMC is well-positioned to take advantage of this shift in technology.\u201cWe\u2019re aware of and open to innovation in this area,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we\u2019ve got access to thousands of patients and their information\u2014that\u2019s really the advantage of UPMC.\u201dDick and Longest will discuss how technology could impact your health care on September 22 at the Thrival Innovation + Music Festival. Most innovation sessions, including those presented by UPMC Enterprises, are free and open to the public but seating is limited, so pre-registration is recommended. Precision Medicine: Health Care as Unique as You  When: 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Thursday, September 22Where: Alloy 26 Auditorium. 100 South Commons, Pittsburgh.\u00a0Register for the eventRecent developments in genetic sequencing could make one-size-fits-all treatment a thing of the past. Learn how researchers and doctors are moving towards individualized treatment based on a patient\u2019s unique genetic makeup. This talk will explore the future of \u201cprecision medicine\u201d and how Pittsburgh is uniquely positioned to become a leader in this emerging field.Speakers: Courtland Longest, Director of Product, Precision Medicine, UPMC Enterprises;\u00a0Rasu Shrestha, MD, Chief Innovation Officer, UPMC and Executive Vice President, UPMC Enterprises Machine Learning: Should Health Care \u201cTay\u201d Away?When: 2:05 p.m. to 3:05 p.m. Thursday, September 22Where: Alloy 26 Auditorium. 100 South Commons, Pittsburgh.\u00a0Register for the eventMachine learning and artificial intelligence are poised to play an increasingly important role in medicine. This talk will demystify the concept of machine learning and discuss the various pitfalls and opportunities it presents for health care.Speaker: Mohinder Dick, Senior Software Architect, UPMC Enterprises; Joseph Wright, Software Engineer, UPMC Enterprises"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2016","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2016\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"09","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2016\/\/09\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Machine Learning: Making Health Care More Personal","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2016\/09\/thrival-upmc-enterprises\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]