Is Innovation Enough To Make AI Live Up to Its Expectations in the Healthcare Industry?

The healthcare industry is one of the biggest contributing sectors to the economy. Not only does it add a substantial monetary value but it also saves lives across regions and borders. The healthcare sector is responsible for the well being of the population, ensuring that people are healthy and fine and contributing to the economy by doing their bit.

The Current Scenario

But, as the population increases, there is a lot for the Healthcare IT Services Sector to out in, concerning efforts and resources. In spite of the fact that medical staff is appointed on a regular basis, there are never enough of them. And when we say this, we’re just talking about the urban regions of an economy. If we take a look at the rural areas, availing even the most basic facilities there is one of the biggest hassles.

Moreover, a lot of the population of the world is aging, which is one problem, but the other is that it is putting them at risk of other diseases and ailing conditions. Unless we have a significant chunk of medical staff as compared to the world’s population, there is no way that the world’s problems are going to be resolved.

Unless we take the assistance of technology to solve the existing problems and bring new approaches to the table, we’ll be heading down the road to doom for humanity. Thanks to technologies like artificial intelligence, a lot of work is being done and improved in the healthcare sector. Not only is it helping deliver care to a large number of population, but also helping the industry focus on quality care rather than quantity care.

One of the earliest and deeply embedded beliefs in the healthcare industry has been to measure the success of the industry by the number of patients that have received the care. But, clearly, this approach is unsuitable and not something that the patients look forward to. The point is that anyone who approaches a medical facility with an underlying problem wants to receive a remedy for it. In other words, they don’t just want to be seen, but also receive value in the care of their services.

However, with the existing scenario of the industry where a lot of work is still being carried out manually and doctors experience burnouts more frequently than another profession, there is a lot at risk. It is imperative to remember that the quality of care is transferred from the doctor to the patient. Therefore, if the medical staff in itself is facing issues or unable to cater to the demands of the patient will all their energy, the state of the care received is sure to deteriorate.

In another instance, we are still far behind when it comes to delivering preventive care. This means the way the healthcare industry sees a particular disease is to treat it once it has got hold of a person. So, the net logical step becomes admitting them to the hospital and operating them based on their condition and required procedure. This ideally shouldn’t be the case int the modern world. If we truly care about population health management, the way we must look at it should be preventive. This is the reason, why most medical institutions run out of emergency care resources such as beds, doctors etc. when too many patients arrive at a given day and time.

Why not just Innovation?

Innovating alone isn’t the end of the current scenario of the healthcare industry. If things have to be truly made better, they must be seen from the perspective of achieving the goal. Those who are trying their best to harness technology, must answer this question: “What are you trying to solve?

If you don’t know the underlying problems of the industry, you can barely let innovation do the job. Believe it or not, it is indeed one of the prime reasons why a large part of the medical industry is still scared of artificial intelligence. They simply think that AI is proliferating in the healthcare industry with the goal of replacing them and even some research in that direction. Recent research by Google on breast cancer detection outperformed doctors in several ways.

However, those who are trying to solve the problem of the existing industry know that there is nothing to be afraid of. AI and other emerging technologies are all just helping the healthcare industry turn more humane. By assisting doctors in diagnosing diseases in an effective manner, they are moving towards one constant goal- providing preventive care to the people.

The underlying theory when it comes to technologies like artificial intelligence is that ideas and products must address fundamental human problems if they truly want to succeed. This is especially authentic for the healthcare industry since artificial intelligence is fueling the hopes of professionals and medical experts, who are desperately looking for better solutions.

Conclusion

Because of the failure of AI in prioritizing human needs and working in the fields of public health, patient safety, health costs, etc. it is unable to establish its feet in the industry till now. The only remedy lies in analyzing the existing problems to their nuances and then building a solution on top of that. While the dynamics of the healthcare industry will surely change, there is nothing that can replace the entire skilled medical staff as of now.