Becker's Hospital Review

41 CIO / HEALTH IT AI vs. machine learning vs. algorithms: Providence exec on their differences, healthcare applications By Katie Adams D igital tools are rapidly changing the way healthcare services are delivered, but technology jargon isn't always widely and accurately understood. Algorithms, artificial intelligence and machine learning are imperative to digitally transforming health- care, but the differences between these three terms can be murky to some. e terms are broken down below, according to Maryam Gholami, chief product officer at Renton, Wash.-based Providence's Digital Innovation Group. Algorithms Algorithms are a critical component of get- ting computer systems to perform any task. "In order to get [computers] to do anything meaningful for us, we need a method to com- municate to machines how to process the in- puts and signals from the surroundings and produce the desired outcomes," Ms. Gholami told Becker's. "We can refer to this 'method' as an algorithm." Algorithms can be designed in a way that is procedural and deterministic, or they can be designed to learn over time. There is also a wide range in which their complexities can vary. Algorithms can give machines step-by-step instructions to follow and can also provide a blueprint that gives them past real-life exam- ples of how a task was performed. Sometimes, algorithms are asked to do a job that humans haven't done before or solve a problem for which humans do not yet know the right solution, according to Ms. Gholami. Algorithms can also be deployed when the creators have a desired outcome but don't have much data from the past to share and aren't sure how it should be achieved. In these cases, creators start algorithms on the job and reward them every time they get closer to achieving the desired outcome so they can learn the right patterns over time. Artificial intelligence AI is computer systems' ability to perform tasks that usually require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making learning and creativity. "AI is not a single technology," Ms. Gholami said. "It's rather an umbrella term that refers to a system of specific problems, the data associ- ated with the problems and the different types of methods that can be used to process the data and perform tasks that mimic human-like in- telligence or even significantly surpasses it." Ms. Gholami said AI's development compris- es three stages. e first is narrow AI, when the machine has mastered a single task, and the second stage is general AI, when the ma- chine is considered to be as smart as human. e final stage is super AI, when the machine becomes smarter than all humans in the field. Machine learning Machine learning is a subset of AI in which algorithms learn and improve themselves as they get used and gather more data. Neural networks and deep learning are sub- sets of machine learning algorithms that are the most sophisticated and human-like in the way they learn, Ms. Gholami pointed out. "With the increase in capturing data more intentionally and ideally in the cloud, and also the increase in computational power to process this information for training the al- gorithms, machine learning is becoming a much more viable option in solving many healthcare problems," Ms. Gholami said. She also said machine learning is common- ly used in healthcare settings to automate administrative tasks such as documentation, diagnostic image analysis and voice recog- nition and natural language processing for virtual assistants. n Cerner finalizes Kantar Health acquisition for $375M: 5 things to know By Jackie Drees C erner closed its acquisition of Kantar Health, the clin- ical research division of data and consulting compa- ny Kantar Group, for $375 million, the companies said April 1. Five things to know: 1. Cerner and Kantar initiated the acquisition agreement in December. 2. Kantar Health offers data, analytics and commercial re- search consulting services to life sciences clients. The New York City-based company focuses on data products to support research in rare diseases and oncology, among other conditions. 3. Under the acquisition, Cerner plans to grow its data ca- pabilities for the Cerner Learning Health Network, which aims to make deidentified clinical data accessible to healthcare and pharmaceutical organizations conducting medical studies. 4. The Cerner Learning Health Network's collaborators represent 92 million patients and 776 million clinical en- counters, according to a news release. 5. Cerner will integrate the Kantar Health team with- in its strategic growth business, and Kantar Health CEO Lynette Cooke will join Cerner's leadership team. n

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