As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve globally, technology ushers in a new era of solutions, promising enhanced accessibility, efficiency, and quality of care.
In this episode of Talking HealthTech, Landell Archer from Pexip explores the role of AI in healthcare, the importance of balancing innovation with caution, and the potential for AI to revolutionise patient and clinician experiences.
With a background in exercise physiology, Landell transitioned into healthcare and sports technology, accumulating 15 years of experience in software. Currently, she works with Pexip, a video conferencing company focused on secure communications for sectors like healthcare, defence, government, and justice, where they handle products and sales.
Embracing the AI Revolution in Healthcare
Healthcare is undergoing significant changes propelled by AI and digital innovation. AI's potential in healthcare covers various applications, from telehealth to drug discovery. These innovations offer new ways to tackle existing challenges in the healthcare sector. Landell notes that AI should be so helpful that it gives us time back in our days to focus on preventative medicine.
Preventative Medicine and AI
A balanced perspective on AI's role emphasises its potential for both treatment and prevention, questioning whether innovations truly address core issues or provide minor conveniences. Rather than focusing solely on developing new treatments, theres a need to shift attention toward preventative medicine, ensuring that AI is applied to promote long-term health benefits.
AI in Telehealth and Wound Care Management
One of the fascinating prospects of AI in healthcare is its application in telehealth and wound care management. AI plug-ins for telehealth can help physiotherapists measure joint angles and range of motion, thus providing more accurate assessments remotely. Similarly, AI in wound care management supplies objective feedback, enabling healthcare providers to track wound healing quantitatively. This advances wound care significantly by providing consistent and measurable progress data.
Ethical Considerations and Security
AI advancements bring ethical and security challenges, especially in sensitive fields like healthcare and defence. Data privacy and the ethical implications of AI are major concerns, with even leading tech companies calling for pauses to allow for careful consideration and alignment. The key question is whether one can trust cloud services and companies to deliver a seamless user experience while safeguarding data. This highlights the crucial balance between harnessing AIs potential and upholding data security and ethical standards.
Cloud AI and Private Environments
One of the methods to balance AIs benefits with security concerns is using private cloud environments. For instance, New South Wales Health employs a private cloud to secure its applications and data. This allows organisations to retain control over their AI models' data ingestion, thus ensuring higher trust and security than public cloud environments.
Addressing Clinician Burnout with AI
A significant area where AI can make a substantial impact is in reducing clinician burnout. Administrative tasks and documentation consume a considerable amount of clinicians' time, contributing to fatigue and decreased job satisfaction. Envisioning a future where AI aids in daily tasks, theres potential for it to learn routine actions and execute them autonomously, thereby freeing up valuable time for clinicians. This would enable healthcare professionals to focus more on patient care, contributing to improved health outcomes.
Improving Health Equity and Patient Experience
AI is poised to enhance health equity by providing tools to transcend language barriers and improve communication. Live language translation and transcription services powered by AI can significantly improve patient experience and uphold higher health standards. Landell shared a scenario where AI can help bridge the gap in live translation services, making it easier for non-English speakers to receive accurate medical consultations. With private AI, we can have live language translation and transcription, ticking the clinician, patient, and cost boxes.
The Path Ahead: Collaborative Innovation
The future of AI in healthcare holds exciting possibilities, with more start-ups likely to emerge driven by clinical and technical expertise. These new ventures can address specific problems and bring focused energy to the sector. However, Landell warns against the potential pitfalls of innovation, urging solutions that solve real problems and improve the overall healthcare landscape rather than creating unnecessary complexities.
Landell envisions a balanced future where part-time roles and hybrid work environments allow healthcare professionals to divide their time effectively between patient care and technological projects. This enhances direct patient interactions while driving digital innovations that benefit the broader community.
A Balanced Approach to AI in Healthcare
As we look to the next decade, the integration of AI in healthcare promises significant advancements and improvements. However, achieving the full potential of these innovations requires a balanced approach, considering both the technological benefits and ethical implications. Training AI in secure, private environments and focusing on tools that alleviate burdens rather than add to them will be crucial.
The potential of AI is vast, but its essential to ensure that the innovations truly serve the needs of both patients and clinicians. By keeping sight of this balanced and cautious approach, the healthcare sector can harness the power of AI to improve patient care, enhance clinician experiences, and achieve better health outcomes for everyone.