Advancement Of Healthcare Industry by Employing Artificial Intelligence

The healthcare industry is prone to constant challenges such as data breaches, staff shortages, and a lack of advanced healthcare facilities. The COVID-19 pandemic advocates for the fact that there is a shortage of skilled labor in the healthcare industry and patient expectations are rising. World Health Organization (WHO) asserts that any form of health innovation enhances the efficiency, quality, and affordability of the healthcare system.

Did you know that AI today is not just limited to finance and retail sectors and it is now revolutionizing the world of healthcare, possibly saving the lives of millions of individuals globally?

According to Statista, the use of Artificial Intelligence in the healthcare industry was worth 11 billion US dollars and the numbers are estimated to increase by a drastic 37% up until 2030 when AI integrated healthcare industry will be valued at 188 billion US dollars.

AI's contribution to the healthcare industry is far beyond a human brain's comprehension. It can examine huge amounts of data in much less time. For instance, it can identify visuals of X-rays, MRIs, and CT-scans that will assist in gaining meaningful insights and detect any diseases at the very early stage. This revolution will be useful for cancer patients as the detected disease can be cured at the very first stage. AI assists in drug discovery by predicting how various drugs will react in a human's body. The virtual assistants created by AI give personalized care to patients and ensure effective monitoring replacing the need for patient support staff. AI is also contributing significantly to the predictive analysis. AI-supported systems can analyze trends and patterns of a patient's medical history to identify possible health risks. Some tasks of health educators can be supplemented by AI as it now comprises the ability to devise personalized treatment plans. A study that was conducted with 379 orthopedic patients revealed that AI-driven robotic processes led to 5 times fewer complexities in comparison to surgeons working independently. Recently it was revealed that Natural Language Processing assists in analyzing the scattered medical information, enhancing medical coding that facilitates effective research. The Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) that are based on AI enable health specialists to make data-driven decisions and implement the most effective practices.

It's high time that healthcare organizations start to integrate AI into their practices as it increases efficiency, and reduces labor's efforts and costs. 

What do you think is the biggest benefit of introducing AI in the healthcare system worldwide?

In my opinion, the AI's ability to identify a chronic disease such as cancer in its early stage is the superior advantage the technology offers. It improves the level of patient care and decreases medical errors.

The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland implements predictive AI strategies to enhance the workflow of patients. The system resulted in a 60% increase in its capability of accepting new patients and a 21% increase in the discharges of existing patients, reducing time and resources.