The opioid epidemic has gripped our nation and taken millions of lives, but scientists and researchers are determined to reduce the threat of opioids using artificial intelligence and machine learning. Specialists recently developed a machine learning tool that provides a “high level of predictive accuracy” to identify patients at risk for future opioid use disorder in the near future.

The Dangers of Opioids

Living with acute or chronic pain is a daily struggle, one that makes it tempting to turn to opioids for quick relief. However, opioids do not address the root causes of the injury causing pain; they simply mask the pain and place users at high risk of dependency.

Even worse, it’s challenging for doctors and physicians to identify when a patient is at risk of opioid dependence. As David M. Simon of axialHealthcare and his colleagues explain, manually reviewing every patient’s health care records to search for opioid use disorder risk factors is a very time- and resource-intensive task for health care professionals.

Pain practitioners need a tool that helps the process become quicker, more efficient, and reliably accurate. Continue Reading