AI in Healthcare: A Potential Lifeline for worker shortage?

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What You Need to Know About AI this week

• Can AI help with the healthcare worker shortage?⛑️

• Is the healthcare AI market a boon for businesses?

• The use of AI in surgical operating rooms 🎥

Read Time: 4 minutes

AI & HEALTHCARE

AI in Healthcare: A Potential Lifeline for Patients and Staff?

Do you remember the last time you went to the emergency room and were told there was a 3-hour wait, which turned into 5 hours or more? And that when you finally saw the one and only doctor, the consultation only lasted a few minutes? Or have you ever experienced or heard of a loved one who needed urgent surgery, but had to wait three months due to a lack of available beds?

Based on the priorities and views of 3,000 healthcare leaders in 14 countries, the recent Future Health Index 2024 report indicates that the shortage of personnel has severe repercussions for both professionals and patients. As shown in the following figure, 66% of leaders report an increase in stress, burnout and mental health problems among their staff, as well as a decline in morale. 77% see delays in care, leading to longer waiting lists (60%), increased treatment delays (57%) and limited access to preventive care (54%). Finally, 55% fear an increased turnover of staff, already overloaded.

By 2030, the WHO predicts a global shortage of 10 million healthcare workers, mainly affecting low- and middle-income countries, but all countries face challenges in training, employing and retaining their healthcare workers.

AI and health: a booming market

In 2022, healthcare spending in the United States reached $1.8 trillion, or 16.6% of GDP, the highest in the world. Switzerland, on the other hand, ranks seventh among OECD countries with healthcare spending representing 11.7% of its GDP, or about $102 billion (91.5 billion CHF).

The global healthcare AI market is valued at USD 20.9 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 148.4 billion by 2029. Given the huge multi-billion dollar potential of the healthcare market, technology giants are taking a close interest.

Can AI help alleviate the healthcare workforce shortage?

According to the 2024 FHI report, automation and virtual care can help alleviate the healthcare workforce shortage. AI is increasingly seen as a solution to improve rapid patient care, alleviate the workload of medical personnel and allow for the care of more patients. For example, Lucerne Cantonal Hospital in Switzerland has collaborated with Microsoft Switzerland and Polypoint to develop an AI-powered solution to optimize team planning and reduce administrative burden. Johns Hopkins Hospital has collaborated with GE Healthcare to optimize patient workflow using predictive AI techniques.

With an AI-powered team, the hospital was able to quickly reduce wait times by 25%, speed up patient transfers by 60% and reduce time spent in beds by 70%. Staff can use screens, tablets and mobile devices to access real-time data on bed availability, patient demand, staff scheduling and operating room scheduling.

AI tools can also revolutionize the way healthcare is delivered. For example, a chatbot can help schedule online appointments, reducing phone time or answering patient messages. In addition, an AI algorithm can analyze medical images to detect early signs of diseases such as breast cancer or Alzheimer's disease. AI-based clinical documentation applications, such as DAX Express, record doctor-patient interactions to instantly create medical notes, reducing administrative burden and allowing doctors to focus on patient care. Or, AI-based virtual assistants can help provide patient care at home with the help of monitoring devices such as a tablet or blood pressure cuff.

Why Does It Matter to Me 🦎 ?

According to the OECD, AI can save lives by improving communication and reducing medical errors, which caused 163,000 deaths in Europe in 2023, 30% of which were due to communication failures. It can also exploit large volumes of clinical data to help healthcare professionals make accurate diagnoses and choose the most appropriate treatments. Up to 36% of healthcare activities could be automated through AI, thus reducing the healthcare professional shortage, which is estimated at 3.5 million positions by 2030 in OECD countries, and improving the quality of care. However, in the face of growing demand for healthcare and funding challenges, AI is often presented as the solution for services that are already forced to do more with less. Indeed, the risk of AI for healthcare professionals is that the adopted solutions may add to their already excessive workload and contribute to their burnout. Similarly, 65% of leaders surveyed in the 2024 FHI report say that healthcare professionals are skeptical of its use.

AI will transform healthcare, but requires careful attention to the skills of healthcare professionals to work with it and to the best practices and standards for its ethical and secure use.

Where are the Cache 🦎 Cookies 🍪 ?

The use of AI in healthcare carries risks such as algorithmic bias resulting from non-representative or poor quality data (for example, if an AI solution is trained only on data from men and applied to women), which can lead to harmful or discriminatory results. Other important risks include the unreliability of results, the lack of transparency of the data used, the disclosure of personal data, the addition of additional constraints for already overloaded healthcare professionals, and the lack of clear accountability in case of harm: Who is responsible in case of medical errors? The doctor, the hospital, the AI system or the patient?

The rapid evolution of AI in the healthcare sector is outpacing the ability of authorities to review it, requiring increased monitoring to ensure patient safety, confidentiality and privacy.

📜 WEEKLY QUOTE

The recording of surgical procedures enables enhanced monitoring, raising privacy concerns and evoking George Orwell's famous quote "Big Brother is watching."

Similar to an airplane black box, a system captures everything happening in the operating room using cameras, microphones, and monitors. This data is then analyzed by AI to identify potential errors. According to an MIT Technology Review article, around 22,000 deaths in the United States annually are attributed to medical errors, such as leaving surgical sponges inside patients or performing the wrong surgery. Surgical Safety Technology aims to tackle this issue, aiming to reduce medical errors and improve surgical outcomes by providing surgeons with a clearer understanding of what's transpiring in the operating room.

PROMPT OF THE WEEK

Unsure about a health question? Searched Google and found no answer?

What if you turned to Claude, chatGPT, or Gemini? It is important to note that these AI tools are not a substitute for a healthcare professional. The information they provide is not a medical diagnosis, and it is always recommended to consult a doctor if you have any doubts or health concerns. However, these tools can save you from lengthy and tedious searches on traditional search engines like Google Search. Here are a few prompts to familiarize yourself with these tools, have fun !

Diagnosis from a photo: a mole or a tick? —> chatGPT

Understanding a medical diagnosis and explaining the information in a medical document —> gemini

Get emotional support and advice for chronic illness —> claude.ai

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

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