“Diabetes costs the nation almost $2,500 per household.”
And knowing that there is a correlation between diabetes reduction and good diet and exercise, this is something that could easily be changed with a shift in culture and no policy intervention.
IBM is working to program Watson so that it can pass the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination.
It’s almost scary to see how much physicians and Watson’s inventors are relying on this “supercomputer”, to the point of already letting it do its “residencies” at different hospitals and assist physicians on the decision making process. Although this seems like a highly HIGHLY advanced invention, I think some (if not most) people still have their doubts as to how much can we actually trust a machine (regardless of how developed or under how much observation it’s been). Something definitely worth thinking about.
“Today, Watson is developing its resume working with oncologists at Memorial-Kettering Cancer Center in diagnosing and treating patients.”
I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this. Without a doubt it sounds very appealing, however, can we really leave a machine to do the work not even a real person can do without making deadly mistakes sometimes, and expect them to save lives?
I am so excited about how health informatics is evolving. Surely this is going to be the next wave in health care, innovation in this area will certainly increase the supply of health service while at the same time make it more efficient. This just may help bring more competition and bring down costs.
Diabetes is an expensive chronic disease, and so, I am not surprised by the expense figures. That said, I am more concerned about the rise in diabetes, why is it becoming so prevalent in every part of the globe. I hope I don’t get it.
Folks, calm down. Watson will not be the sole provider responsible for patient care. It is a tool, and a useful one at that. There may come a day when hyper-advanced robots are providing patient care, but it will be a few decades at least.
All these arguments remind me of the teamsters protesting “horseless carriages” because they were dangerous. Everyone now sees that these cries for safety were self-serving to the core.
On the rising costs of diabetes, that 174 Billion would have grown to 202 Billion through inflation alone. Not to mention that we have yet to even include the increase in population over that time, which was about 4.65% over those years. Once you adjust for inflation and population, the 174 Billion in 2007 dollars and population would be 253 Billion in 2012 dollars and population. This means that the cost of diabetes care (in real inflation and population adjusted terms) went down by 3.16% over that 5 year span – or 0.63% per year.
In response to your comment. That’s a very good analysis, and I believe we can conclude that the cost of diabetes hasn’t really increased per person, the number of people getting it is what has increased.
Keeping in mind that this health condition is correlated to the lifestyle that people may have suggests that perhaps better eating habits and more physicial exercise could reduce these alarming numbers. Not saying that this is the solution, but it can certainly help bring down the numbers and people would end up benefiting in the long run too. No need to have politicians intervene and create more unnecessary policies and regulations. This is more of a personal decision for some now.
Diabetes has always been an expensive disease and it will keep getting more and more expensive unless something is done about it. More and more people are becoming diabetics(especially Type 2) daily around the globe. It’s necessary to properly educate people on how to prevent Type 2 diabetes. You can’t expect costs to lower if more people are becoming diabetic. Visit http://www.steps-to-success.org for more on diabetes
“Diabetes costs the nation almost $2,500 per household.”
And knowing that there is a correlation between diabetes reduction and good diet and exercise, this is something that could easily be changed with a shift in culture and no policy intervention.
“Yes, ObamaCare has $1 trillion in new taxes over the next ten years; but about one-third of them are targeted at the “rich.””
Not sure this law will still be in existence 10 years from now…
IBM is working to program Watson so that it can pass the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination.
Cool! I look forward to the day when I can see a medical robot — whose advise I don’t follow — instead of ignoring a human doctor’s advise!
IBM is working to program Watson so that it can pass the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination.
It’s almost scary to see how much physicians and Watson’s inventors are relying on this “supercomputer”, to the point of already letting it do its “residencies” at different hospitals and assist physicians on the decision making process. Although this seems like a highly HIGHLY advanced invention, I think some (if not most) people still have their doubts as to how much can we actually trust a machine (regardless of how developed or under how much observation it’s been). Something definitely worth thinking about.
“Today, Watson is developing its resume working with oncologists at Memorial-Kettering Cancer Center in diagnosing and treating patients.”
I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this. Without a doubt it sounds very appealing, however, can we really leave a machine to do the work not even a real person can do without making deadly mistakes sometimes, and expect them to save lives?
@ The IBM Watson article
I am so excited about how health informatics is evolving. Surely this is going to be the next wave in health care, innovation in this area will certainly increase the supply of health service while at the same time make it more efficient. This just may help bring more competition and bring down costs.
Diabetes is an expensive chronic disease, and so, I am not surprised by the expense figures. That said, I am more concerned about the rise in diabetes, why is it becoming so prevalent in every part of the globe. I hope I don’t get it.
Folks, calm down. Watson will not be the sole provider responsible for patient care. It is a tool, and a useful one at that. There may come a day when hyper-advanced robots are providing patient care, but it will be a few decades at least.
All these arguments remind me of the teamsters protesting “horseless carriages” because they were dangerous. Everyone now sees that these cries for safety were self-serving to the core.
On the rising costs of diabetes, that 174 Billion would have grown to 202 Billion through inflation alone. Not to mention that we have yet to even include the increase in population over that time, which was about 4.65% over those years. Once you adjust for inflation and population, the 174 Billion in 2007 dollars and population would be 253 Billion in 2012 dollars and population. This means that the cost of diabetes care (in real inflation and population adjusted terms) went down by 3.16% over that 5 year span – or 0.63% per year.
Prince,
In response to your comment. That’s a very good analysis, and I believe we can conclude that the cost of diabetes hasn’t really increased per person, the number of people getting it is what has increased.
Keeping in mind that this health condition is correlated to the lifestyle that people may have suggests that perhaps better eating habits and more physicial exercise could reduce these alarming numbers. Not saying that this is the solution, but it can certainly help bring down the numbers and people would end up benefiting in the long run too. No need to have politicians intervene and create more unnecessary policies and regulations. This is more of a personal decision for some now.
Diabetes has always been an expensive disease and it will keep getting more and more expensive unless something is done about it. More and more people are becoming diabetics(especially Type 2) daily around the globe. It’s necessary to properly educate people on how to prevent Type 2 diabetes. You can’t expect costs to lower if more people are becoming diabetic. Visit http://www.steps-to-success.org for more on diabetes