May 29, 2024
Health IT | Tea Leaves
  • Artificial intelligence, particularly natural language processing (NLP), is revolutionizing health care by aiding in tasks like suicide risk assessment. With suicide rates rising, NLP offers a unique solution by analyzing patient text entries for signs of suicidal ideation. One software company’s study demonstrated that NLP could detect potential suicide risk in over half of patients who may have otherwise gone unnoticed, even among those compliant with depression screenings. Leveraging a suicidal ideation lexicon, NLP flags at-risk patients, allowing clinicians to intervene promptly. This technology’s scalability and remote deployment make it especially valuable in marginalized communities with limited psychiatric resources. Numerous digital health companies are adopting NLP to detect at-risk individuals and connect them with appropriate interventions, showcasing the versatility and potential impact of AI in health care. (Article here)