NARROWING THE GAPS IN MENTAL HEALTHCARE

One of the Top 12 Artificial Intelligence Innovations Disrupting Healthcare by 2020

Nearly twenty percent of US patients struggle with a mental health disorder, yet treatment is often difficult to access and expensive to use regularly. Reducing barriers to access for mental and behavioral healthcare, especially during the opioid abuse crisis, requires a new approach to connecting patients with services.

AI-driven applications and therapy programs will be a significant part of the answer.

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“The promise and potential for digital behavioral solutions and apps is enormous to address the gaps in mental healthcare in the US and across the world,” said David Ahern, PhD, a clinical psychologist at Brigham & Women’s Hospital (BWH).

Smartphone-based cognitive behavioral therapy and integrated group therapy are showing promise for treating conditions such as depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse.

While patients and providers need to be wary of commercially available applications that have not been rigorously validated and tested, more and more researchers are developing AI-based tools that have the backing of randomized clinical trials and are showing good results.

Source Health IT Analytics

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