Ethics has always been a part of considering new technologies, including computer science, and must not be ignored here. What are some of the ethical issues introduced by healthcare analytics?

• First and foremost, in my opinion, is the inability to place a value or a number on human feelings and painlessness. Many machine learning models are trained using a cost function. What should the cost function be? Should it be based on decreasing costs, increasing quality and outcomes, or decreasing pain and heartbreak? Who determines the ratio with which these seemingly opposing goals should be pursued?
• Another ethical issue introduced by artificial intelligence is the question of responsibility. If a machine learning model makes an errant prediction, who is to be held responsible? Should it be the physician who oversaw the patient? Or should it be the team of data scientists that made the model?
• A third issue lies in the realm of patient privacy. We discussed HIPAA laws in Chapter 2, Healthcare Foundations. Is it right to use patient data to train models? Should it require consent or not? Which data points should be allowed to be used?
• Finally, there is the problem of bias. There is a concern that predicting outcomes on patients may depend on things such as race, gender, and age. This may lead to patient discrimination.