Artificial intelligence is the talk of the century because it enables machines to act according to their previous learnings; in this way, machines can sense, react, comprehend information and act appropriately – faster and more accurately than humans.
In the healthcare sector, AI applications can be integrated into many functions, effectively transforming the way hospitals, clinics, care homes and healthcare systems operate by:
Collecting and analyzing unstructured data.
In the healthcare sector, artificial intelligence (AI) is ideal for
collecting large volumes of structured and unstructured data, for example:
Patient history can be analyzed and extracted to help assist and free up the time of clinicians and other healthcare professionals enabling them to focus on higher-level tasks.
By analyzing unstructured data, and making sense of image data and sound data, AI helps clinicians consume and make use of data that was previously scattered or unreadable.
Enabling early detection.
Of the many ways artificial intelligence is advancing healthcare, it can also help provide more accurate reports and detect diseases early. As per a report by PwC, pattern recognition can help discover whether patients may be at risk of developing a certain condition. [1]
Another example of early detection can be seen in AI used in radiology providing more accurate images and suggested analysis enabling the radiologist to diagnose early and more accurately which can help in providing timely treatment and better healthcare outcomes for the patient.
Automating tasks.
AI can help in automating many functions within the clinical workflow in various healthcare settings as well as in the corporate healthcare domain. An example of this can be seen in pharmaceutical companies which leverage AI applications to automate many functions related to their drugs such as analysis, follow-up, and reporting. By automating administrative tasks and data-entry, AI helps clinicians dedicate more time for the patient.
Enhancing patient satisfaction.
AI applications in healthcare aim to provide a better quality of care for patients, through a more effective patient journey.
“$150 billion in annual savings is the forecasted amount for the US healthcare economy as a direct result of clinical AI applications in healthcare by 2026″
As per reports, AI can address 20% of unmet clinical demand. The top AI applications in healthcare include the following:
Robot-assisted surgery
Virtual nursing assistants
Administrative workflow assistance
Fraud detection
Dosage error reduction
Connected machines
Clinical trial participant identifier
Preliminary diagnosis
Automated image diagnosis
Cybersecurity
The top 3 applications of AI in healthcare
Robot-Assisted Surgery
Representing the greatest near-term value of up to $40 billion, as per Accenture analysis, robot-assisted surgery reduces the “length of stay” by 21%. By using data from previous surgical experiences, cognitive robots assist physicians in enhancing their technique and precision.
Virtual Nursing Assistants
Virtual nursing assistants help reduce long hospital visits, as they can keep track of patients’ symptoms and alert physicians and clinicians when care is required. For nurses, this saves 20% of their time in “unnecessary visits”.
Administrative Workflow Assistance
For doctors, administrative workflow assistance can save their work time up to 17% and 51% for nurses. [4]
AI can be very promising in the healthcare domain enabling a more patient-centric approach to care resulting in improved patient satisfaction and overall quality of care.
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