Innovation and necessity are coming together to demand new solutions for both age-old and evolving challenges in the healthcare industry, and AI is proving to be an indispensable ally. In this article, we explore five key ways AI is driving meaningful change across the industry.
Patient Record Keeping
Healthcare institutions, like any business, aim to build lasting relationships with their customers—in this case, patients. But how do they create comprehensive customer profiles? One key solution is making patient records portable. For instance, when your general practitioner refers you to an endocrinologist within the same healthcare system, your care should transition seamlessly, minimizing administrative hassle for both you and your provider. AI plays a crucial role in addressing this challenge by ensuring consistent and efficient patient record management across the system.
Disease Treatment
Radiologists and other technicians are swamped, often reading hundreds of medical images a day. When healthcare organizations integrate AI as part of these diagnostic services, radiologists are able to analyze tests, such as x-rays and MRIs, much more efficiently. This facilitates faster diagnoses and treatment decisions, potentially improving patient outcomes.
In-Office Care
Western Washington Medical Group’s Chief Operating Officer Joseph Smecker describes an “all-too-common situation” where patients are feeling disconnected from their provider while in-office, due to the provider being focused on the computer while taking notes. AI tools, however, can help by recording and transcribing conversations. Smecker says it’s a win-win: patients feel more connected and providers have higher satisfaction in their work, spending less time taking notes and focusing more on their connections with patients.
Post-M&A Integrations
Across the US, chains of small practices are acquiring additional practices to add to their business. While acquiring profitable practices may be great for business, it provides its own set of integration challenges. Each practice is most likely using a different set of systems, so communication between them is practically nonexistent. By using AI to act as an arbitrator to get those systems talking to each other in a HIPAA-compliant manner, you avoid the time-consuming task of having to rewrite them. Without AI, it could take years to get those systems integrated, but with AI you can do it in a few weeks.
Future-Proofing Healthcare
A major concern for healthcare organizations is future-proofing healthcare in a way that transforms how they’ll respond to major, potentially global, challenges: anything from pandemics to health crises caused by war, famine and climate change. With more data at their fingertips than ever before, healthcare organizations will use AI to leverage this data to understand global trends for better, more timely treatment and response.
AI isn’t just a tool for healthcare optimization – it’s going to transform the entire industry. As healthcare continues to evolve, leveraging AI effectively will be critical to delivering better outcomes, building trust, and creating a more resilient system that can serve generations to come.
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