Stanford Center for Health Education Launches Online Program in Artificial Intelligence in Health Care to Improve Patient Outcomes

The Stanford Center for Health Education recently launched an online program in artificial intelligence (AI) in health care. The program aims to advance the delivery of patient care and improve global health outcomes through artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The online program, taught by faculty from Stanford Medicine, is designed for health care providers, technology professionals, and computer scientists. The goal is to foster a common understanding of the potential for AI to safely and ethically improve patient care.

Stanford University is a leader in AI research and applications in health care, with expertise in health economics, clinical informatics, computer science, medical practice, and ethics.

"Effective use of AI in health care requires knowing more than just the algorithms and how they work," says Nigam Shah, an associate professor of medicine and biomedical data science, and the faculty director of the new program. "Stanford's AI in Healthcare program will equip participants to design solutions that help patients and transform our health care system. The program will provide a multifaceted perspective on what it takes to bring AI to the clinic safely, cost effectively, and ethically."

AI has the potential to enable personalized care and predictive analytics, using patient data. Computer system analyses of large patient data sets can help providers personalize optimal care. And data-driven patient risk assessment can better enable physicians to take the right action, at the right time. Participants in the four-course program will learn about the current state, trends, and implications of artificial intelligence in health care; the ethics of AI in healt hcare; how AI affects patient care safety, quality, and research; how AI relates to the science, practice, and business of medicine; practical applications of AI in health care; and how to apply the building blocks of AI to innovate patient care and understand emerging technologies.

The Stanford Center for Health Education (SCHE), which created the AI in Healthcare program, develops online education programs to extend Stanford's reach to learners around the world. SCHE aims to shape the future of health and health care through the timely sharing of knowledge derived from medical research and advances. By facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration across medicine and technology, and introducing professionals to new disciplines, the AI in Healthcare program is intended to advance the field. 

"In keeping with the mission of the Stanford Center for Health Education to expand knowledge and improve health on a global scale, we are excited to launch this online certificate program on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare," says Dr. Charles G. Prober, founding executive director of SCHE. "This program features several of Stanford's leading thinkers in this emerging field—a discipline that will have a profound effect on human health and disease in the 21st century."

SCHE is a universitywide program supported by Stanford Medicine. The AI in Healthcare program is available for enrollment through Stanford Online, and hosted on the Coursera online learning platform. The program consists of four online courses, and upon completion, participants can earn a Stanford Online specialization certificate through the Coursera platform. The four courses in the AI in Healthcare specialization are Introduction to Healthcare, Introduction to Clinical Data, Fundamentals of Machine Learning for Healthcare, and Evaluations of AI Applications in Healthcare. 

Source: Stanford Center for Health Education