I've been curiously following the story of Watson, IBM's natural language search solution, through the popular culture media sources. I thought how very odd that this technology triumph would first appear through what amounts to a circus act: an appearance on Jeopardy. Natural language search is the killer app for folks who simply aren't willing to "learn" a software application. Quite frankly, an elegant design should require minimal training, even with clinical applications, because the users have proven to be reluctant to use any product that requires keyed-in data. I'm thinking the majority of physicians. It reminds me of the time that I started practicing law and encountered a boss that insisted that I use dictation for all of my work; no good lawyer would ever use a computer personally. Now I'm not that old, and that person, I'm sure, has achieved a leadership position in that financial services company simply by staying put. But I digress.
VentureBeat reports that IBM has done a deal with Nuance Communications, the maker of Dragon Medical dictation, a great iPhone app medical search engine for health care providers. This is certainly Health 2.5 at its best, allowing health care providers to quickly get answers in a clinical setting, speeding up research and suggested courses of prevention and/or treatment.
Yes, we have miles and miles to go regarding the enterprise adoption of such tools, with lawyers and insurance people raising both valid and unrealistic risks borne by the organization that relies heavily on such innovative technology, but I'm certain that physicians already using mobile apps, whether approved by their employers or not, will quickly find this to be a remarkable tool. Never-the-less, it's nice to see IBM back out front again.
Story here: http://venturebeat.com/2011/02/17/ibm-watson-nuance/
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