AI is moving the Medical Laboratory from Science to Engineering

The marriage of data, machine learning algorithms and medical laboratory science is leading to innovative engineering of medical laboratory systems. Nvidia's CEO has led many to believe that for the first time in human history, medical laboratory systems has the opportunity to be engineering and not science. The future of medicine lies at the intersection of AI and medical laboratories. Machine learning medical devices are now focused on narrow healthcare challenges, heralded by the new revolution called digital biology. The very complex processes of life can now be engineered to yield robust and repeatable healthcare treatments and interventions.

AI is now able to transform medical lab results into actionable health insights and recommendations that doctors probably had too little time to discover and just overlooked. This leads to improved patient outcomes, increased efficiency and enhanced decision making.

Labs are Machines

It's here! Total Laboratory Automation is here. The fields of engineering, robotics and informatics have removed humans and replaced all disciplines of Lab Medicine with machines. It's important for every laboratory technologist to understand the fundamental principles of optics and how the machines use light to perform tasks. The areas of physics such as mechanics, acoustics, electronics, optics, prompt engineering, as well as artificial intelligence have become more relevant in medical laboratories. Every discipline has automated systems which require training, troubleshooting and quality management to ensure that results are accurate and precise. This gives faster turn-around time and allows for better standardization of the testing procedures. There is the elimination of inaccuracies in manual timing of reactions and the visual subjectivity of results which are based on the interpretation of technologists. The five step process for making labs into machines include: 

1. Question every requirement

2. Delete any part or process you can

3. Simplify and optimize

4. Accelerate cycle time

4. Automate

Medical Laboratories are simply machines. The role of the medical technologist now is data analysis and knowing how to troubleshoot these machines. This is the new era of Lab Medicine where technology and automation is at the forefront of every result reported.

Health Savings Account

A health savings account is a tax-advantaged account for an individual with high deductible health plans that want to save for medical expenses that those plans do not cover. Contributions are made into the account by the individual or their employer and are limited to a maximum amount each year. This is the ultimate investment account since the contributions to your health savings account are invested tax-free over time and can only be used for qualified medical expenses. The money in your health savings account can be used to invest in stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, bonds and other securities which can yield significant returns on the financial markets. Growth on your investments are tax free which makes having a health savings account ideal for doing investments. These accounts are ideal for self-employed individuals or those who are a part of the informal sector in any economy. If the funds are not used then it can be used for investments which would build more capital for more significant medical needs or just as an investment fund for retirement. This is one of the best tax-advantaged savings and investment tool that is available. Contributions are not subjected to tax, the money can be invested and grow tax free and withdrawals are not taxed once they are used for qualified medical expenses. 

There is also the issue of alternative healthcare financing for informal sector operators which makes up more than half of the economy in most developing countries. The informal sector may include those with employment in street vending, taxi driving, domestic work, farming or self employed contractors. Traditional health insurance model is not an option for the informal sector because of affordability, lack of mandatory health insurance laws for the poor, irregular income, unpredictable healthcare expenses, lack of risk pooling, lack of inclusion, fragmented access to healthcare, restricted access to health insurance, limited coverage and administrative challenges. Innovative models that can provide better systems for alternative healthcare financing include: 

1. Health Savings Account- This allows individuals to set aside funds specifically for healthcare expenses. These accounts are usually paired with high-deductible insurance plans, where individuals pay out-of-pocket costs up to a certain threshold. Health savings accounts can empower individuals to make informed decisions about their health care spending and provide a safety net for unexpected medical expenses

2. Medical Microinsurance- This refers to health insurance products designed for low-income individuals or households including those in the informal sector. These products usually have low premiums and simplified administrative processes. Microinsurance plans can provide coverage for specific healthcare services or a package of health benefits. These products are offered through partnerships between insurance providers, microfinance institutions and community based organisations.

These approaches to healthcare financing that are tailored to the circumstances of low income households are necessary for the advancement of universal access to quality healthcare services.

The medical laboratory will be at the forefront of solving many of these problems related to alternative healthcare financing. Lets partner together as we make quality and efficient healthcare delivery available to everyone.

Medical Supplier Financing

This is product sourcing strategy from a financial perspective. Factor financing has more positives than negatives to offer the healthcare space. The business of saving lives should not be deterred because of lack of proper financing. Buyers and sellers should be able to carry out smooth transactions that benefit patients so they can have access to medical diagnostic and therapeutic services. 

A factor is an intermediary agent that provides cash or financing to healthcare businesses by purchasing their account receivables. In short, a factor is a funding source; the factor agrees to pay the company the value of an invoice- less a discount for commission and fees. Factoring can help healthcare businesses improve their short-term cash needs by selling their receivables in return for an injection of cash from the factoring company. The practice is also known as factoring, factor financing and accounts receivable financing.

Product sourcing strategic financial management includes:

1. Payables finance

2. Dynamic discounting

3. Payables extension

4. Receivables discounting

5. Factoring

6. Forfaiting

7. Borrowing base finance

8. Purchase-order finance

9. Inventory finance

10. Distributor finance

The five main parts of a factoring transaction include:

1. the "fee" paid to the factor

2. the "interest expense" paid to the factor for the advance of the money

3. the "bad debt expense" associated with portion of the receivables that the seller will remain unpaid and uncollectable

4. the "holdback receivable" amount to cover merchandise returns and any other loss or gain the seller must attribute to the sale of the receivables. Sometimes the factor's charges paid by the seller (the factor's client) covers a discount fee, additional credit risk the factor must assume, and other services provided.

5. the "profit" which is the difference between the price the factor paid for the invoice and the money received from the debtor, less the amount loss due to non-payment.

This type of financing is ideal for all types of healthcare businesses. Medical Laboratories want to play an integral role in the applications of factor financing in the healthcare space and thus ensure the timely delivery of healthcare to patients. The patient always benefit whether the transaction is supply chain financing (reverse factoring), factor financing (accounts receivables financing) or providing access to working capital by purchasing invoices for unpaid health insurance claims (medical factoring). Healthcare factor financing can easily metamorphose into private credit and private equity investments.

Mentorship in Laboratory Medicine

Most successful entrepreneurs had mentors that gave them free business advice. These entrepreneurs did not allow the advice to go to waste but they used the advice to pivot their business strategy for the long-term. Much has been said about the importance of business coaching and consulting and why every entrepreneur should find a mentor to help them through starting and organizing a business. Business advice can be just as important as funding in the early stages of starting any business. Finding role models and mentors can be hard especially in this era of social media where everyone has established themselves as experts. Mentors can be voices of reason, fonts of knowledge and sounding boards all wrapped up in one package. Great advice can determine the survival of any entrepreneur who is new to starting and running a business. All these principles are applicable to starting and running a Medical Laboratory. 

Sir Richard Branson is a billionaire businessman who understands and preaches the importance of good mentors. His mentor was legendary airline entrepreneur, Sir Freddie Laker, who founded Laker Airways and who Richard Branson greatly admired. In the early days of Virgin Altlantic, Sir Freddie Laker gave Richard Branson some valuable business advice that he still uses to this day. Virgin Atlantic lacked the big marketing budgets of its larger competitors such as British Airways. Therefore, Laker encouraged Branson to become to face of Virgin Atlantic and drive his own publicity for free. Everyone can do this today with social media. Laker said: "Use yourself. Make a fool of yourself. Otherwise you won't survive."

Laboratory Information Management System in Jamaica

Healthcare Management Information System in Jamaica

DYXNZ BOXYZ: Project XYZ

Product Sourcing Strategy is directly linked to supply chain engineering, factor financing, operations research and data science. This project seeks to improve inventory management using data in order to ensure that product sourcing strategies are efficiently implemented in healthcare systems. This project will use an operating system built on the linux kernel as well as the source code of G-MOSS. A team will be built to customize open source software to create DYXNZ BOXYZ as a management information system for product sourcing strategy. There will be features for stock movements, location hierarchy, and reporting on this system. This is a project that will help to teach individuals how to use open source software as a learning tool in the information age. Code reviews will be done by volunteer programmers using the open source maturity model before deployment into healthcare systems. The primary goal of this project is be a servant to low income communities that may lack the medical supplies they need because of inefficient supply chains.

To help make this project a success we will be asking for donations and assistance from persons who want to contribute to this cause. Project XYZ is free and we want to make a difference in the world and change medical laboratories for the future. This will be the last blog post before the deployment of DYXNZ BOXYZ version 0.0.1.

Inventor or Investor

After researching and studying some of the great business leaders and entrepreneurs, I have picked up a pattern from the data gathered. Most of the great ones are either inventors, investors and/or imitators. Elon Musk invented his own rockets to create SpaceX which will probably make him the first trillionaire. This involved imitating and learning from the mistakes of past aerospace engineers. Warren Buffett invested in Coca Cola and Apple Inc. which made him one of the richest men in the world. At one point, Warren Buffett was the richest man in the world. This involved imitating and learning from the mistakes of past financiers such as Benjamin Graham. This means that you either become good at science and engineering or learn finance and marketing to become a great business leader. For some, it is important to learn both which is easily done through imitation. In the USA, Silicon Valley is the hub for science and engineering inventors while Wall Street is the hub for finance and marketing investors. So my advice is to become an inventor, an investor and/or an imitator if you want to be an entrepreneur.

Medical Laboratories have started to adopt the principles of inventing, investing, and/or imitating in order to become large conglomerates. This is the formula for having the greatest impact on society via innovation and investments. In Jamaica, most inventors use the services of the Scientific Research Council while investors use the services of the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Medical Laboratories are now becoming technology and asset management giants. On March 8, 1994, National Health Laboratories Inc. reorganized as a holding company called National Health Laboratories Holdings Inc. which merged with Roche in 1995 to form LabCorp. Be the change you want to see!

JAM-DEX for Healthcare

This is not about cryptocurrency or non-fungible tokens. It is about the information age. Money is an information system. Your finances is simply a data entry into a database. Banks will now operate as data centers which will be monitored by data scientists. Health financing will have to adopt to this new norm. This means that health insurance will become a large information system. JAM-DEX is the birth of digital currencies and infonomics in Jamaica. 

Medical Laboratories cannot escape the financial system. Whether it is mobile payments such as Lynk or digital currencies such as JAM-DEX all Medical Laboratories will have to adopt. If medical payments are more digital then healthcare will slowly become digital. The new age of artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies and the metaverse will change healthcare forever. Adopt now or become extinct.

$1 USD Pharma Stocks

Investing in US equities is key to diversifying your asset portfolio. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic many investors have shown increased interest in pharmaceutical shares. There are three pharma companies whose share prices are less than or a little over one(1) United States Dollar (USD). They are Agile Therapeutics, Neoleukin Therapeutics and Leap Therapeutics which are all listed on the NASDAQ. These companies have some of the cheapest stock prices for pharmaceutical companies in the United States. Based on your investment strategy, and after doing thorough research, one of these cheap stocks may be where you can start your journey of buying shares in pharmaceutical companies. Most individual investors cannot afford expensive shares such as that of Berkshire Hathaway and opt for cheaper shares or fractional shares. Online trading platforms now give everyday stock market investors the option of owning fractional shares which became more popular since the COVID-19 pandemic. This is levelling the playing field so that everyone can get a chance of being part of investing on stock exchanges regardless of how much money they have. For as low as $1 USD, you can own shares in a pharma company.

Cheap stocks are not always the best to own, however, it is a place to start as a learning tool for the everyday investor. If not, you can opt for fractional shares which would allow you to own 0.01% of a BRK-A share for $4218 USD. Medical Laboratories will become some of the largest publicly-listed companies in the future when DNA starts to replace software as the most popular product on planet Earth.

Disclaimer: This information should not be taken as investment advice. Please contact your licensed investment advisor before making any investment decision. 

Investing in Pharmaceuticals

Investing is very risky. Hence, it is important to do thorough research of the companies that you are investing in. The share price of Berkshire Hathaway is currently the most expensive in the world due to the fact that this holding company is the brainchild of Warren Buffett who is the godfather of modern day investing. After looking at the assets owned by Berkshire Hathaway, it is evident that since the COVID-19 pandemic they have invested more in pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, Merck, Teva, Bristol-Myers-Squibb, and Abbvie Inc. are some examples of assets that are owned by Berkshire Hathaway.

It is without a doubt that a healthcare boom is coming as predicted by Michael Lee-Chin in a strategic initiative letter in 2021. More investors such as Warren Buffett are starting to research pharmaceutical companies to see which one will be the best to invest in. That pharmaceutical company will probably have the next great medical breakthrough in genetics. Medical Laboratories will be some of the largest publicly-listed companies in the future since DNA will replace software as the most popular product on planet Earth. On the Jamaica Stock Exchange there are pharmaceutical companies such as Fontana, Medical Disposables and Indies Pharma that you can invest in. 

Disclaimer: This information should not be taken as investment advice. Please contact your licensed investment advisor before making any investment decision.

Medical Microinsurance

The exorbitant cost of healthcare has caused many to avoid the healthcare system completely because of affordability issues. Many persons are still unbanked and uninsured which results in those persons unable to access a medical loan or health insurance. This is a major drawback in the development of an effective healthcare system. Medical Laboratories charge exorbitant fees for blood tests that are not subsidized by the government or health insurance. This makes access to diagnostics and pharmaceuticals a luxury for a few. A solution to this is the access to medical microinsurance for the unbanked and uninsured. This can be simply in the form of a medical cost sharing program. These programs are sometimes called healthcare ministries in many christian organizations.

According to Michael Lee-Chin, chairman of Portland Holdings, a healthcare boom is on the verge of happening. The data suggests that investments in healthcare companies will provide high returns in the future. Medical Laboratories play a major role in this healthcare boom that Michael Lee-Chin is predicting.

Becoming an Inventor

Becoming an inventor does not require you to be super brilliant. Inventions are created using a three step formula. These steps include: Initiation, Imitation and Innovation. A simple and mathematical way to remember this formula is Invention = Initiation + Imitation + Innovation. The first step which is Initiation is to study the field that you want create an invention in. For example if you want to invent a diagnostic test then you have to study medical laboratory science and engineering. This means reading academic papers, research literature and books about the subject. This will help you with initiating your mind to think about how your invention will add value to society. The second step which is Imitation is to filter through all of the literature and find strategies that you can copy. After copying these strategies then you need to practice them daily until you are perfect. Through practicing you will automatically start to find new strategies that no one has ever tried before. Finding new and unique strategies through experimentation is what leads you to the Innovation step. 

This is how anyone can become an inventor. First you need to start studying the subject, then find strategies to copy, then experiment with new and unique strategies. Medical Laboratories allow engineers to invent devices for genetic engineering of humans. The same three step formula is what those engineers are using to create the final invention of the human race. Simple engineering of the human body (i.e. bodybuilding) can be done with exercise, diet and monitoring of chemicals in the blood and urine. Bioengineering of humans is as easy as losing weight with exercise and as complex as editing human genes with CRISPR. 

Datasets in Molecular Biology

Finding the needle in the haystack is what health data analytics is all about. Factors that can affect the needle found include poor data quality, poor data governance and poor data preparation. The use of data to create expert systems that operate similar or superior to physicians is the final innovation for healthcare. This innovation will intertwine the subject areas of artificial intelligence and genetic engineering. A dataset in molecular biology could predict whether a patient will have cancer in the future. There are several research and development initiatives aimed at creating what I call "ROBO-DOCTOR" which is an expert system for healthcare. This will incorporate the use of therapeutic and diagnostic data as well as a decision support system that can predict future health outcomes. 

The Medical Laboratory will be at the center of this innovation in health analytics/ healthcare informatics. This is due to fact that 70% of the data used for diagnosing patients are obtained from the Medical Laboratory.

Product Sourcing Strategy for DNA

DNA is the software of life. The product sourcing strategies for software include in-house software development, commercial-off-the-shelf packages, cloud computing, mobile computing or open source software. These product sourcing strategies can also be applied to DNA. Genetic engineering provides the expertise and framework for in-house engineering of synthetic DNA. Commercial options are also available for synthetic DNA that is sold off the shelf such as from Twist Biosciences. Open source, cloud computing, and mobile computing are available in the form of BLAST (basic local alignment search tool) which is the Google of biological data. This is a search engine and database which has an algorithm that compares primary biological sequence information.

Medical Laboratories are at the heart of sourcing DNA solutions. Everyone should become part of the DNA software revolution. 

Open Source Educational LIMS

G-MOSS (Gav-Med Open Source Society) is the ultimate free and open-source healthcare group for open source laboratory information management systems. Its focus is on data and life as subject areas that everyone can learn for free online via open-source education. Data is viewed from the perspective of artificial intelligence and Life is viewed from the perspective of genetic engineering. We believe that path to a self-taught education is via the internet and is possible with the symbiosis of artificial and biological intelligence. Linus's law states that 'given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow'. This means that everyone should learn and participate in the development of artificial intelligence and genetic engineering. 

Medical Laboratories are playing an important role in the development of open-source technologies used in healthcare for understanding data and life. A free and accredited bachelors degree in computer science will soon be realized via the internet. Free and open-source online learning will revolutionize the information age thus leading to the symbiosis of artificial intelligence and genetic engineering which will create superhumans.

 

Open Data and Life

Open source technologies are becoming more popular now since Microsoft purchased GitHub, the ultimate open source software development company. Free and open source software (FOSS) allows users to use, study, change and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. It is source code that is designed to be publicly accessible. Microsoft was the major opponent of this idea of open source since their business model was built on proprietary closed source software. Eventually, everyone will have to embrace every form of open source, including open data and open life which are the future. Open Data focuses on the open source approach to artificial intelligence whilst Open Life focuses on the open source approach to genetic engineering. This is future of open source which allows anyone to use, study, change and distribute the source code of AI and genetics. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, even university education is now open source. There is an open source computer science degree available on GitHub called Open Source Society University.

Medical Laboratories will serve as research laboratories and institutes for open data and open life. This idea will help shape the future of open source as Medical Laboratories make science fiction into science fact.

Computers or Humans: AI or Genetics

There is an ongoing debate about which technology will have the greatest impact on the universe. Robotics, Computers and AI will create machines that are autonomous, require little to no human intelligence and exist independently. Human engineering with Genetics will create human beings with biological superintelligence that exist supernaturally without any form of disease. This war between computers and humans will become more intense with advancements in the fields of artificial intelligence and genetics. DNA is the most advanced form of software ever created. This makes engineering life the most important invention of the human race. AlphaCode and GPT-3 allows computers to write their own code using artificial intelligence. In the future, computers will be able to reprogram human genetics using artificial intelligence. This means that instead of humans engineering machines, machines will start to engineer humans . Thus, using AI, computers will start to engineer life. The jobs of software and genetic engineers would become extinct. STEM discoveries are gradually making progress in the engineering of life especially for humans to become a multiplanetary species and colonise Mars.

Medical Laboratories will make the engineering of life, especially human life, possible with the use of artificial intelligence. The aim is to invent technologies in biological systems engineering via science fabrication from science fiction. Medical Laboratories are the future of envisioneering and futurecrafting. Computer and Biological programmers will be obsolete when the Robots in Laboratory Medicine take over healthcare. 

Engineering Systems

The entire universe and the solar system are engineering masterpieces. The component parts and subsystems are will coordinated to carry out the main functions of the complex systems. Of all those complex systems in the universe, Life is the most advanced and complex. Throughout history, from Noah's Ark was built, systems engineering was used to make life possible. The Garden of Eden was a well engineered system which allowed Adam and Eve (the first people) to live happily. Planet Earth provides humans with the basic amenities for survival (food, water, clothing, shelter and sex) in a well engineered system. Life is the most advanced form of technology.

By definition, the goal of systems engineering is to guide the engineering of complex systems. A system is a set of interrelated components working together toward some common objective. Systems engineering focuses on the system as a whole; it emphasizes its total operation. It looks at the system from the outside as well as from the inside. The Medical Laboratory is a system which has people, process, data, software and hardware. Once Medical Laboratories are properly engineered, they can change the world.