Exploring quantum computing use cases for healthcare

Healthcare data—such as information from clinical trials, disease registries, electronic health records (EHRs), and medical devices—is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 36 percent. Increasingly, this data helps address challenges associated with the “quadruple aim” of healthcare: better health, lower cost, enhanced patient experiences, and improved healthcare practitioner work lives. At the same time, healthcare consumers are making more decisions and have to navigate an increasingly complex system.

Significant investments are being made to deliver the right data and powerful insights at the point of care. Industry incumbents and new entrants alike are trying to create digital experiences that reinforce healthy, preventive behaviors. Despite that, accounting for the exponential possibilities from this diversity of new data is stretching the capabilities of classical computing systems.

Enter quantum computing.

A century after the birth of quantum mechanics, it has been proven that quantum computing can have an advantage over classical approaches. Quantum computing does not merely provide an incremental speedup. It is the only known technology that can be exponentially faster than classical computers for certain tasks, potentially reducing calculation times from years to minutes.

Quantum computing necessitates a different way of thinking, a new and highly sought-after set of skills, distinct IT architectures, and novel corporate strategies. The technology also has immediate implications for security. Security is an area of particular relevance for healthcare, given the sector’s data privacy responsibilities and challenges.

In healthcare, as in other industries, using quantum computers in concert with classical computers is likely to bestow substantial advantages that classical computing alone cannot deliver. As a result, there is now a race toward quantum applications. Following are three key potential quantum use cases that are central to the healthcare industry’s ongoing transformation:

1. Diagnostic assistance: Diagnose patients early, accurately, and efficiently

2. Precision medicine: Keep people healthy based on personalized interventions/treatments

3. Pricing: Optimize insurance premiums and pricing.