Page 50 - Insurance Times September 2019

cial AI partner for India’s Central Tuberculosis Division. The developer or the medical practitioner?” Movdawalla of EY
company will work to address multiple challenges around India asks.
TB care, such as case-load estimation at the district level
using risk and transmission factors, and prioritisation of TB In such a situation, partnering with larger tech firms will
make it easier for startups to gain acceptance and access to
patients for health workers by classifying the risk of them
clients. For instance, technology leader Google is looking to
dropping off from treatment.
develop an AI solution that is robust enough to accurately
The company is also creating a smartphone-based virtual detect diabetic retinopathy using low-quality images.
weighing machine to allow frontline workers to screen for The company has been working with Indian hospitals to
babies with low birth weight, in order to improve child better train its AI system. Last year, the AI solution began
health. One of the biggest challenges these startups face
giving preliminary results to help doctors make a more
is gaining scientific acceptance, as most solutions that they accurate diagnosis, after Google partnered leading eye care
develop need USFDA approval. For many startups, market chains Narayana Nethralaya, Aravind Eye Hospital and
presence and reach also remains a challenge.
Sankara Nethralaya. “Today, we have volumes of data avail-
able. We can draw insights from this data and loop it back
Partnerships with large hospitals or corporates seem to be into the decision-making process.
the best option to ensure their solution reaches as many
people as possible. “While most of the work in coming up We now have tools to make sense of both structured and un-
with low-cost, noninvasive solutions is being driven by structured data,” said Barik of Deloitte India. A lot will, how-
startups, there are still grey areas. Who is responsible for ever, depend on how effectively this data can translate into an
an incorrect diagnosis because of a glitch – the software AI-powered healthcare solution. (Source: Economics Times)

50 The Insurance Times, September 2019