The American Medical Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges and a number of other medical societies have joined forces with the Human Diagnostics Project to create the Human Dx Alliance.
The other organizations involved in the alliance include the American Board of Internal Medicine, the ABIM Foundation, the American Board of Medical Specialties, the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved, the National Association of Community Health Centers and the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.
The Human Diagnosis Project (or Human Dx) functions as a nonprofit and a public benefit corporation, seeking to bring more accessible and affordable healthcare to underserved populations.
A worldwide effort, it is creating an online system that leverages joint knowledge and machine learning to map the best steps for a given patient.
Over 6,000 physicians from more than 70 countries have helped contribute their intelligence and information to the project. Collectively, they have added 10 million clinical data points to the Human Dx eConsult system.
To make use of it, a doctor inputs relevant patient and medical information. Then, after a specialist review and the assistance of machine learning, the doctor obtains a recommended treatment or diagnosis.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
In the coming five years, the Human Dx Alliance will utilize the eConsult system to support underserved areas. More specifically, it will implement the platform in 8,000 safety net clinics that aid more than three million patients.
In a statement, AMA President Dr. David Barbe expressed excitement over joining the alliance:
We look forward to working with Human Dx as part of this important Alliance to help more uninsured and underinsured patients gain access to the specialty care they need. The AMA is committed to improving the health of the nation and achieving better health outcomes for all Americans. Improving access to specialty care is an important step toward realizing that mission.
The eventual goal, though, is to utilize the eConsult system to bring assistance to patients around the globe.
“Each patient helped will add to the Human Dx system and bring us closer to a more inclusive, sustainable and open future of medicine for all of humankind,” Jayanth Komarneni, founder and chair of Human Dx, wrote in a blog post.
Photo: nevarpp, Getty Images
