How Close Is Quantum Computing In Healthcare?

Potential applications run the gamut from streamlining clinical trials to optimizing back-end functions for payers and providers, and could be used in practice within a few years.

The world is on the cusp of a new era of computing with the advent of quantum technology, a highly touted but abstract branch of engineering with the potential to transform the healthcare industry that has yet to be fully leveraged in real-world applications.

Near-term uses run the gamut from streamlining clinical trials to optimizing back-end functions for payers and providers, and could start being used in practice as early as the next few years.

"I'm loath to put an exact timeframe — is it a year? Is it two years, three years to get in production? But we're seeing real results today that say this is going to be tractable in the near-term," Christopher Savoie, CEO of quantum software developer Zapata Computing, told Healthcare Dive.​