How Is Artificial Intelligence Changing Healthcare As We Know It?
Group health providers may be gleaning their information from very different sources or approving claims for very different procedures in the coming years — all thanks to new technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI).
Some even argue that the technology is having a distinct impact right now. Learn the ways artificial intelligence is changing the scope of healthcare now and the ways it will continue to change healthcare in the future.
Revolutionizing Diagnostics And Predictive Care
Right now, health claims administrators and provider services rely on doctors to relay a code or codes to them after examinations or tests. These codes determine what services the patient pays for. In the future, AI may make it possible to avoid this red tape altogether.
“AI and predictive analytics help us to understand more about the different factors in our lives that influence our health… things relating to where we are born, what we eat, where we work, what our local air pollution levels are or whether we have access to safe housing and a stable income. These are some of the factors that the World Health Organization calls ‘the social determinants of health’ (SDOH),” the World Economic Forum (WEF) writes. Thanks to AI, instead of waiting for information after the fact, doctors may be able to predict serious health conditions and take actions to prevent them.
Making Healthcare More Cohesive
In the past, sharing healthcare records between primary care doctors, hospitals, physical therapists, and specialists has been tricky at best. It required patients to receive care in a central location and, even then, things sometimes got lost in translation.
Using AI, patients can be treated by a number of different healthcare professionals. They can be treated in different locations, and those locations can communicate with each other immediately in real-time. The same technology can be used to help patients who are traveling or who are away from home locate appropriate care.
In addition to streamlining care between facilities, these increased networking capabilities can be used to improve the insurance claims and billing processes as well. New technology enables group health providers to get the information they need as quickly and as accurately as possible, and, from there, they can open those lines of communication to patients and patients’ families as well.
Drastically Reshaping Patient And Staff Experiences
For years and years, doctors and nurses have been overscheduled and overworked, ultimately leaving patients feeling rushed and, at times, feeling as if they are receiving substandard care. Thankfully, AI may be able to step in, relieve some of the burdens on doctors and nurses, and thereby improve patient care. How can AI help?
First, AI can easily help in some of the simplest scenarios. For example, instead of hiring a nurse to remind patients to take medications and attend appointments, a virtual assistant, like a bedside Alexa or Echo Dot, can easily achieve the same thing. In fact, relatively independent patients may prefer it. While it may feel disruptive or expensive to have a nurse check-in daily, a virtual assistant can eliminate that need for some patients.
Plus, predictive AI technology not only leads to healthier patients but also more efficient workflows and faster wait times.
AI is quickly emerging on the scene, improving outcomes for nurses, doctors, group health providers, and patients. The next few years will be telling. If AI can truly improve care in the ways we predict, healthcare will look very different in the next five to 10 years.