Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare

Big data and machine learning are having an impact on most aspects of modern life, from entertainment, commerce, and healthcare. All this data can be used for very detailed personal profiling, which may be of great value for behavioral understanding and targeting but also has potential for predicting healthcare trends. There is great optimism that the application of artificial intelligence (AI) can provide substantial improvements in all areas of healthcare from diagnostics to treatment. There is already a large amount of evidence that AI algorithms are performing on par or better than humans in various tasks, for instance, in analyzing medical images or correlating symptoms and biomarkers from electronic medical records (EMRs) with the characterization and prognosis of the disease.

The healthcare ecosystem is realizing the importance of AI-powered tools in the next-generation healthcare technology. It is believed that AI can bring improvements to any process within healthcare operation and delivery. For instance, the cost savings that AI can bring to the healthcare system is an important driver for implementation of AI applications. It is estimated that AI applications can cut annual US healthcare costs by USD 150 billion in 2026. A large part of these cost reductions stem from changing the healthcare model from a reactive to a proactive approach, focusing on health management rather than disease treatment. This is expected to result in fewer hospitalizations, less doctor visits, and less treatments. AI-based technology will have an important role in helping people stay healthy via continuous monitoring and coaching and will ensure earlier diagnosis, tailored treatments, and more efficient follow-ups.

It is generally believed that AI tools will facilitate and enhance human work and not replace the work of physicians and other healthcare staff. AI is ready to support healthcare personnel with a variety of tasks from administrative workflow to clinical documentation and patient outreach as well as specialized support such as in image analysis, medical device automation, and patient monitoring.

There are different opinions on the most beneficial applications of AI for healthcare purposes. Forbes stated in 2018 that the most important areas would be administrative workflows, image analysis, robotic surgery, virtual assistants, and clinical decision support. A 2018 report by Accenture mentioned the same areas and also included connected machines, dosage error reduction, and cybersecurity. A 2019 report from McKinsey states important areas being connected and cognitive devices, targeted and personalized medicine, robotics-assisted surgery, and electroceuticals.