Use of Crowdsourcing in Medical Field Allows for More Efficient Health Care

As political pundits weave their way through state after state, a hot button issue will continue to find an effective way to manage the country's increasingly discombobulated (and expensive) health care system.

One solution? Crowdsourcing. In a recent article, author Cyndi Laurenti notes some of the most prominent and powerful ways crowdsourcing is weaving its way into the medical field-- and the potential the widespread staffing phenomenon may hold for the industry.

For starters, crowdsourcing is being put to use in the field of medical transcription, a process where written records and notes are translated into an electronic form, ultimately entreated into a database, and used in the wider-spread arena of documenting the occurrence and frequency of specific illnesses. The billing and coding process has become increasingly "complicated and byzantine" as of late. Larenti notes that crowdsourcing has created a wider base of transcriptionists (who can easily be trained at home and in online courses) performing work on a more cost-effective basis.

Laurenti makes special note of the ways crowdsourcing is helping diagnosis and treatment-- thanks to a program called "Webicina," a site where medicine combines with social media to allow physicians across the world to communicate their findings easily, quickly and effectively.The schools and other institutions listed in Guide to Healthcare Schools should take note of this new innovation in the medical field. 

There is also potential for patients to have the ability to submit their own medical histories online, providing new doctors with health histories before even stepping into a waiting room.

This is just the beginning for the amazing opportunities and innovations that utilising crowdsourcing within the medical industry can achieve. Not only is there the potential for crowdsourcing in the medical field to expand in magnitude and possibility, but the doors are open for new and even greater ventures to present themselves with the powerful collision of these two worlds.

So, it seems, for now, one thing is for certain: with the "all hands on deck" approach that only crowdsourcing can allow, the medical world is sure to see a benefit. And that's something that everyone can benefit from.