Understanding the potential of AI in healthcare

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a force to be reckoned with in various fields, and healthcare is no exception. AI in healthcare has the potential to enhance patient care, transform medical practices, and improve healthcare outcomes. From streamlining administrative tasks to helping prevent the spread of diseases, AI has already begun shaping the industry landscape. And as artificial intelligence technology continues to advance, the use of AI in healthcare will become more prevalent in everyday practices.

How AI is used in healthcare today

AI has become a staple for how physicians, pharmacists, and other medical personnel conduct everyday tasks. From remote patient monitoring to customizing patient medical plans, healthcare professionals have relied on AI technology to conduct their everyday tasks in an efficient manner. In fact, the healthcare field has been using artificial intelligence for decades to conduct research and further understand medicine as we know it. The first known use of AI in healthcare happened in the 1970’s when researchers produced MYCIN. MYCIN was developed to help identify blood infection treatments.

Since then, AI has been used to identify treatment options and in support of everyday procedures. Artificial intelligence is also commonly used with healthcare databases that store the medical records of thousands of patients. Artificial intelligence was especially useful during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it allowed remote patient monitoring informed by medical records.

One of the more recent discoveries for the use of AI in healthcare is detecting a medical diagnosis in a patient. AI technology can sometimes detect issues even before a medical professional does, which opens the possibility for using AI to advance our knowledge for how early we might be able to detect and treat certain diseases.

That possibility of using AI to detect diseases at the early stages might be coming sooner than most think. Physicians have already started using AI in screening processes to make patients more aware of potential diseases. Recently, AI has been used for early detection of cardiovascular disease in women. AI has also been used in healthcare to monitor patients and identify disease patterns to help healthcare professionals understand if an outbreak is about to happen.

Ethical challenges for implementing AI in healthcare

While the use of AI in healthcare brings endless opportunities, there are certain concerns that warrant against the use of artificial intelligence. Some patients have concerns on receiving treatment from AI. Around 60% of Americans say they would be uncomfortable with their providers relying on AI for their own healthcare; they don’t trust the AI technology to properly diagnose disease and recommend treatments.

There is also a strong belief that AI might have a negative effect on healthcare professionals, as 57% of people believe that the use of AI in healthcare will worsen the patient-provider relationship. Many patients want a provider who shows them compassion and empathetic behavior when they see their physician. Some patients don’t believe that an AI system can provide them that same human connection.

Other concerns include data privacy, safety, and algorithm biases continue to be arguments against artificial intelligence in not only the healthcare field, but in other industries as well. While there are no definitive solutions to these concerns yet, healthcare professionals must continue to explore the possibilities of AI in advancing healthcare – while prioritizing patient concerns, potential security risks, and potential biases.

However in healthcare, AI should be used as a compliment to patient care, rather than a substitute for it. The most effective usage of AI is when it is served as a tool to help providers make more informed diagnoses and treatment decisions.

Harness the power of AI

Inovalon has strategically integrated artificial intelligence into our solutions, giving our customers the ability to harness the capabilities of AI to drive transformative innovation across healthcare. To learn more about the power of AI throughout the industry, check out this blog on AI and the power of deep learning in healthcare.

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