One of the great things about doing our 100 health IT interviews in 100 days is the chance to meet and learn from a diverse group of really smart people. My recent interview with Dr. Art Papier, CEO and Co-Founder at VisualDx and Dr. Nada Elbuluk, Director of Clinical Impact at VisualDx fit into this category really well. Not only is VisualDx doing some really interesting things to help clinicians with better clinical decision support, but they’ve made a concerted effort to ensure that the data that powers their tools represents a diverse set of patients.
We’ve often talked about the double edged sword of AI when it comes to bias. On the one hand, the AI treats every patient exactly the same which can reduce bias. However, on the other hand, if the data that powers the AI doesn’t include a diverse set of patients, then by design it could impact certain patient populations adversely.
At VisualDx, they understand this problem really well and have worked hard to ensure that their clinical decision support tools include a diverse set of patient data so that they can better serve patients regardless of race. Plus, that includes presenting images that help educate clinicians and patients on how certain diseases may display on various colors of skin. Something that doctors may not be familiar with if they studied medicine in an area that wasn’t very diverse for example.
If you want to understand more of the nuances and details around this subject, check out our interview with Dr. Papier and Dr. Elbuluk below.
There’s a lot that can be learned from VisualDx’s experience, but my biggest takeaway is that it takes a sincere effort to ensure ALL patients are receiving the best care possible. However, the effort is more than worth it. I hope to see other health IT companies following in VisualDx’s footsteps.
Learn more about VisualDx: https://www.visualdx.com/
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