How AI is changing Healthcare

Our daily lives are more and more inundated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Alexa, smart homes, smart TVs, robot-vacuums, self-driving cars and more. The healthcare industry knows they have and get on board and cannot not ignore the importance of AI technology in the medical community. Artificial Intelligence in healthcare robots is using modern technology to programmatically hear, see and respond to their environments at the same time collecting valuable data on the patient’s medical condition (Burke, Weill, 2013, p. 159). Robots or wearable devices can collect more data than before, giving health care workers an abundance of information to treat their patients with (Getz, 2018).

Many healthcare professionals fear that the rise in the AI acceptance in their medical community will cost them their jobs or create out of control sci-fi robots like the Terminator (Getz, 2018). They also are concerned some doctors will trust the robots without question thus neglecting their own responsibilities as a doctor. There is also the mounting costs hospital already incurred with their large medical machinery, it has not been conclusive if the AI robot’s expertise and assistance will pay off the high cost of their implementation.

To overcome this fear of the unknown, the medical community needs to understand the role of the robots with AI is not to replace staff but to work alongside them and assist them with their patients and diagnoses. The amount of data collected and calculated a computer or robot can do is far greater than the smartest human being. Getz quotes Dr. Rajan, “AI platforms can be trained to piece together disparate information to diagnose conditions that may not be apparent to a human. AI tools are also expected to improve accuracy of diagnoses and reduce errors." (2018). Using AI robots and devices offers a hyper-intelligent partnership of the doctor with a computer. The cost of the AI robots should streamline patient care with faster, more accurate data and therapy. There is a lot of wasted money in the healthcare system where automation will help restructure the medical world and save taxpayers money (Getz, 2018).

As the medical community is faced with the rise in the amount of patient care (especially with this pandemic) organizations are taking the initiative of adding AI robots to partner with doctors and nurses. As this 2018 article suggests, AI robots are being put in place in hopes to give some relief from their medical staff experiencing burnout from being overworked, which has been the norm in 2020. Even as simple as AI robots handling the menial tasks of verifying EMR and EHR are properly filled out and compliant. Many doctors are excited for the advancements in technology as an important milestone to allow doctors to spend more quality time with their patients and less time with duties that can be automated. They also realize partnering with AI technology will bring faster and more accurate results for diagnosing their patients in order to lay out a plan of action to recovery.

References

Burke,L., Weill, B. (2013). Information Technology for the Health Professions. Pearson

Getz, L. (2018). Artificial Intelligence Forgers a Path in Health Care. For the Record (Great Valley Publishing Company, Inc.), 30(1), 18–21. https://www.fortherecordmag.com/archives/0118p18.shtml