Scope and Growth of Artificial Intelligence in American Healthcare Industry
Healthcare industry in America is ripe enough for accepting specific significant changes. From severe diseases like cancer, and treatments like radiology, and even in risk management, there is an infinite number of opportunities for leveraging the technologies. Through this, it is possible to deploy efficient, precise, and highly impactful intervention, which can exactly come at the right time in patient care.
As there will be an evolution in payment structures, it is evident that patients are demanding more and more facilities from the providers. Along with this, the volume of data that should be handled by the providers is increasing tremendously. So, artificial intelligence can be the right thing which can come by in the healthcare industry and lead to some revolution.
Most importantly, AI or Artificial intelligence can bring in a lot of advantages compared to traditional techniques which are in use for clinical decision and analytics. Learning algorithms will become more and more accurate and precise as they start interacting with the training data available. Along with this, with the help of AI, humans can gain specific insights on patient outcomes, treatment variability, care processes, and even in diagnostics.
There are several areas and technologies in the healthcare industry, which can get benefited from artificial intelligence. Partners Healthcare already showcases some of them in WMIF that is world medical innovation forum. This is one of the leading researchers.
Let’s look into some of the technologies and areas which can get benefited by AI.
Brain computing interfaces – unifying machine and mind
Usage of computers for communicating and making interactions is not something new in this world. But the original idea here is creating direct interfaces which will be between the human mind and technology, and there will not be any media like mice, keyboards, or monitors. This is considered to be the cutting edge area in the research, which will bring an important application, mainly for some patients.
There are many neurological diseases, along with some trauma to the human nervous system that can result in taking away the abilities of some patients to move and speak. In some cases, there will not be any interaction which is meaningful with environments or with people.
In this situation, BCI or Brain-computer interface, which is entirely backed by AI can restore some of the first experiences for patients who lost them earlier. So, through these Brain Computer interfaces, it is possible to see improvements in the quality of life of patients drastically. This is mainly helpful for patients suffering from strokes, ALS, locked- in syndrome, and even for patients suffering from spinal cord injuries.
EHR- electronic health records and AI
EHRs have already played some instrumental role in the healthcare industry. This was the initial steps taken to move towards digitalization. But when we think of disadvantages, EHR brought myriad of problems. Some of them are mainly related to user burnout, endless documentation, and cognitive overload.
This is the reason; EHR developers have now started moving towards AI. This will help in creating higher intuitive interfaces along with automating some types of routine processes which were taking a long time earlier. Usually, users spend more time in order entry, clinical documentation, and finally in sorting.
Through AI, voice recognition, as well as dictation, can help in making some improvements to the clinical documentation process. Along with this, AI can also help in processing routine requests such as a result and refills notifications. Moreover, it can help in prioritizing tasks, which were taking clinician’s attention earlier.
Radiology tools
Radiology images available today which are obtained by CT scanners, MRI machines, and x-ray are already offering high-level visibility to the human body. But when it comes to many other diagnostic processes, most are relying on the physical tissue sample. These are obtained from processes like biopsies, and they always carry some high risks such as contamination.
Through AI, it is possible to enable radiology tools of the next generation, which is detailed and accurate enough and can replace the necessity of tissue samples. Once the technology and inventions succeed in this direction, it may be possible that they get more understanding about these tumors. Through this, they can understand more and make the right treatment decisions in case of a small segment of malignancy found.
Hence even providers will define aggressiveness of the cancers in the right manner, and they can appropriately target the treatments. There are technologies like ‘virtual biopsies’ coming up with the help of AI, and this is making significant advancements in radionics field.
Expanding the care into developing regions
There is significantly limited access in life-saving care in underdeveloped and developing nations all around the world. This is mainly because of the shortage found in healthcare providers like radiologists and ultrasound technicians. This is a severe deficit, and impacts can be mitigated to some extent by using AI. They should take over the diagnostic duties, which are usually assigned and allocated to humans. For example, by using x-ray, it is possible to screen tuberculosis, and this can achieve a high level of accuracy in comparison to humans. This is some capability which can be deployed using the app available mainly in low resourced area,and through this, it is possible to reduce the need for the trained radiologist.
Pathology images and precise analyticsThere is a possibility that analytics can be drilled down to pixel level on large digital photographs. This will help in finding the nuances which otherwise escape from human findings. Along with this, through AI, it is possible to improve the productivity by the identification of features of interest in the slide, and this will happen before even clinicians review the data.
Medical devices and machines – bringing intelligence
In the consumer environment, smart devices have already taken over jobs. They offer a lot of things like real-time video, and these are provided from inside of the cars to refrigerators. So, there are options to find out when the driver gets distracted.
When it comes to the medical environment, smart devices can help in monitoring critical conditions like patients in ICU. Through AI, it is possible to identify deterioration, and after that, there can be some suggestion given on avoiding the complications.
Final thoughts
On the whole, it is possible to use AI in all areas of healthcare management. Whether it is billing management, prescription management, or EHR, there is some solution, improvement that AI can bring in. Through this implementation or change, it is possible to reduce the number of staff needed in the healthcare system, achieve accurate documentation, and they can also quicken the process of claims. But it is also essential that AI should be appropriately handled and implementation should be given to the right hands.