Health Strategy Institute (HSI)
multidisciplinary institute of continuous transformation for
in-person health and digital health strategy
Joaquim Cardoso MSc
Chief Research and Editor — of the Health Strategy Portal;
Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) — of the Health Strategy Institute (HSI),
Senior Advisor — for Boards and C-Level
June 23, 2023
Key messages:
What is the opportunity? What is the business case?
- CEOs in healthcare are increasingly recognizing the potential of AI to revolutionize care delivery and address challenges such as strained capacities, physician burnout, and rising costs.
- AI has the potential to address health disparities, with estimates suggesting it could provide $400 billion to $600 billion in value while tackling these disparities.
- AI, when integrated with clinicians, can enable informed decision-making, personalized treatment plans, and wearable continuous monitoring for early intervention and prevention of adverse events.
- AI is no longer a distant future; it is a reality in healthcare that requires responsible implementation and collaboration to maximize its benefits while ensuring patient-centric care.
What are the issues?
- While AI offers significant opportunities, preserving the human connection in healthcare is crucial, as face-to-face interactions and communication skills cannot be replaced by AI alone.
- Bias in AI algorithms and systems is a concern, but healthcare leaders are actively working with AI experts to mitigate biases as the technology evolves.
What are the recommendations?
- Immediate action is needed to build a strategic framework for AI implementation in healthcare, including assessing digitization levels, developing an AI narrative, ensuring data quality, and identifying high-return workflows.
- Reimagining the physical healthcare infrastructure and transitioning to a platform model is necessary to fully leverage the transformative potential of AI in healthcare.
DEEP DIVE
ONE PAGE SUMMARY:
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare is becoming a reality and has caught the attention of CEOs across the industry.
AI has the potential to revolutionize care delivery, improve patient outcomes, and alleviate challenges such as strained hospital capacities, physician burnout, and escalating costs.
CEOs recognize the value of pairing AI with clinicians to enable informed decision-making, personalized treatment plans, and wearable continuous monitoring for early intervention and prevention of adverse events.
While AI offers significant opportunities for health system growth, leaders also acknowledge the importance of preserving the human connection in healthcare.
Face-to-face interactions and communication skills are vital aspects that AI cannot replace, and neglecting them may contribute to issues with loneliness and behavioral health challenges in society.
The implementation of automation and AI must be carefully planned to ensure better patient care, improved access, and strengthened doctor-patient relationships.
Concerns about biases in AI algorithms and systems have been raised, as they can amplify existing health disparities.
However, healthcare leaders are actively collaborating with AI experts to mitigate biases as the technology evolves.
Some health systems have even hired AI leaders and executives to guide their AI initiatives.
The Mayo Clinic stands at the forefront of AI in healthcare through its partnership with Google Cloud, leveraging generative AI applications to enhance clinical outcomes, research, and workflows.
Anti-bias tools are integrated to ensure the validation of content and avoid inappropriate outputs.
Mayo Clinic’s CEO emphasizes the urgency of adopting AI in patient care, as the current challenges in healthcare will worsen without responsible implementation.
Mayo Clinic’s CEO emphasizes the urgency of adopting AI in patient care, as the current challenges in healthcare will worsen without responsible implementation.
Northwell Health, New York’s largest health system, recognizes the potential of AI to address health disparities.
They have embraced AI to identify and correct disparities, backed by a McKinsey Healthcare Analytics report that estimates AI could provide $400 billion to $600 billion in value while addressing these disparities.
The rapid pace of AI development necessitates immediate action by healthcare organizations to build a strategic framework for success.
Critical steps include assessing digitization levels, developing an AI narrative, ensuring data quality, and identifying workflows with the highest return. Waiting and observing is no longer an option in the face of this fast-moving field.
While AI offers operational and clinical benefits, it cannot single-handedly fix larger structural problems in healthcare.
CEOs advocate for reimagining the physical healthcare infrastructure and transitioning from a pipeline model to a platform model.
A platform model encourages seamless collaboration, scalability, and accessibility for patients, providers, researchers, and health partners, enabling the transformative potential of AI in healthcare.
CEOs advocate for reimagining the physical healthcare infrastructure and transitioning from a pipeline model to a platform model.
In conclusion, AI is no longer a distant concept for hospitals; it is becoming an integral part of healthcare.
- CEOs recognize its potential and are actively exploring its implementation to drive improved care delivery, enhanced patient outcomes, and more sustainable healthcare systems.
- However, careful consideration of the human element, addressing biases, and transforming healthcare infrastructure are essential for maximizing the benefits of AI while ensuring patient-centric care.
Based on the article “The AI-powered future of healthcare is ‘right now’: What CEOs think of AI”, authored by Laura Dyrda, and published on Beckers Hospital Review.
