How does artificial intelligence benefit the healthcare system?
According to Statista, the artificial intelligence (AI) healthcare market is projected to be worth $187 billion by 2030. That massive increase means we are likely to see considerable changes across medical providers, hospitals, pharmaceutical and biotech companies. . And others from the health sector.
Better machine learning (ML) algorithms, more access to data, cheaper hardware, and the availability of 5G have contributed to the growing application of AI in the healthcare industry, accelerating the pace of change. Artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies can sift through huge volumes of health data—from medical records and clinical studies to genetic information—and analyze it much faster than humans.
AI can help make healthcare operations more efficient
Healthcare organizations are using AI to improve the efficiency of all types of processes, from administrative tasks to patient care:
Administrative Workflow.
Healthcare workers spend a lot of time doing paperwork and other administrative tasks. AI and automation can perform many of those mundane tasks, freeing up employee time for other activities. For example, doctors and other healthcare professionals can dictate notes hands-free, allowing them to spend more face-to-face time with patients. AI computer-assisted documentation can provide clinicians with suggestions for keeping medical records as complete as possible. AI can also help with accurate coding, information sharing between departments, and billing.
Virtual Nursing Assistants.
One study found that 64% of patients are comfortable using AI to access 24-hour answers provided by support nurses. AI-powered virtual nursing assistants, which are AI-powered chatbots, apps, or other interfaces, can answer questions about medications, send reports to doctors or surgeons, and help patients schedule a visit to a doctor. This type of routine monitoring and scheduling takes tasks away from clinical staff, who can then spend more time directly in patient care, where human judgment and interaction are more important.
Reduce dosing errors.
AI can help identify errors in the way a patient self-administer their medications, leading to better patient health outcomes and lower healthcare costs and hospitalizations. One example comes from a Nature Medicine study, which found that up to 70% of patients do not take insulin as prescribed. Using a wireless sensing AI system, a tool located on the bottom of the patient (much like a Wi-Fi router) can identify errors in the way the patient administers an insulin pen or inhaler.
Safer surgeries.
In some cases, AI allows surgeons to operate in small spaces instead of performing open surgery. AI-powered robots can work on sensitive organs and tissue, reducing blood loss, risk of infection, and post-surgical pain. Robotic surgery often means less scarring and shorter recovery times than traditional surgery.
AI can improve the healthcare user experience.
AI can also improve accessibility. According to the US Census Bureau, 28 million Americans did not have health insurance in 2020, and even those with insurance don't always have coverage for all kinds of tests they need. The COVID-19 pandemic made the situation worse, as a disproportionate number of people from disadvantaged communities lost their jobs, all or part of their income, and their health insurance. Due to the pandemic, the federal government has relaxed some regulations, such as certain HIPAA restrictions, allowing doctors to treat patients and prescribe medications via telehealth, made possible by advances in computing and artificial intelligence. Telehealth is now recognized as a valuable technology that can bring healthcare to many people right in their homes.
AI can increase efficiency in healthcare diagnosis.
A group at MIT developed a machine learning algorithm to determine when a human expert is needed. In some cases, such as in identifying cardiomegaly on chest X-rays, they found that a hybrid human-AI model produced the best results.
Another published study found that AI recognized skin cancer better than experienced doctors. American, German, and French researchers used deep learning on more than 100,000 images to identify skin cancer. By comparing the AI results with those of 58 international dermatologists, they found that the AI worked better.
AI in healthcare organizations can mean better health monitoring and preventative care
As health and fitness trackers become more popular and more people use apps that track and analyze details about their health, they can share these real-time data sets with their doctors to monitor health issues and provide alerts in case of problems.
Artificial intelligence solutions, such as big data applications, machine learning algorithms, and deep learning algorithms, can also analyze large data sets to aid clinical and other decision-making. The AI also detects and tracks infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, tuberculosis, and malaria.
Future and potential of AI in the healthcare ecosystem.
AI provides opportunities to reduce human error, assist medical professionals and staff, and provide services to patients 24/7. As AI tools continue to develop, there is potential for increased use of AI to read medical images, X-rays, and scans, diagnose medical problems, and create treatment plans.
AI applications will continue to help simplify everything from answering phones to analyzing population health trends (and probably applications yet to be considered). For example, future artificial intelligence tools may further automate or augment the work of doctors and staff. That will free up humans to spend more time in more effective and compassionate face-to-face professional care.