How Artificial Intelligence is Changing Healthcare for the Better

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Overview

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a fast-growing technology that has systems that perform "intelligent" tasks, such as problem solving with ease. In the 21st century, the development of AI has skyrocketed, becoming a main facet in the industry of technology. Through technological evolution, AI technology possesses extraordinary capabilities such as machine learning and natural language processing. The technological capabilities of AI are important for many occupational sectors, one of which is healthcare. In this blog, I will briefly detail on how AI is positively changing healthcare through its capabilities. (McKinsey & Company, 2018)

Predictive Care

One potential that AI holds is predictive analysis of large data sets in order to make a prediction. Predictive analysis powered by AI would be particularly helpful in predicting when a patient is at risk of a chronic disease, based on daily habits, symptoms, medical history, demographics, and more. Predictive analysis allows for early recognition of chronic diseases. In 2020, chronic disease accounted for around 75% of all deaths worldwide. With advancements in predictive analysis, AI could play a role in the reduction of the percentage of deaths due to chronic disease through earlier diagnosis and treatment. (World Economic Forum, 2020)

Safer Clinical Trials

Clinical trials require the utmost safety measures to perform safely and one of them is a polished Clinical data set. Unfortunately, there are sometimes misspellings and confusing texts in clinical data sets due to data coming from a variety of sources that use different ways to describe events or symptoms. This makes correct medical coding an arduous task. Fortunately, AI can use efficient keyword searching and intelligent searches that can bypass the issue of misspellings and confusing strands of text. AI technology would have the potential to ease off a lot of work from medical coders that had to take lots of time to apply correct code. (IBM Watson Health)

Automation of Administrative Processes

AI can automate administrative processes in healthcare such as reviewing medical records of individual patients. AI particularly excels in computing, processing, and analyzing data nearly instantly. The use of natural language processing in medical documentation applications greatly reduces the time needed to document medical data. Allowing AI to mostly control the sector of administrative processing might allow higher quality care for patients, as providers can spend less energy logging data and more energy on patient care. (University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, 2019)

Conclusion

All in all, there are many ways that AI is making healthcare easier for people like predictive care, clinical trial algorithms, and automation of data processing. There is no doubt that more implementations of revolutionary AI in healthcare will arrive. Through the conjunction of AI and healthcare workers, healthcare has become better than ever, and still has room for advancement in the future.

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References

IBM Watson Health. (n.d.). How artificial intelligence is impacting healthcare. IBM. https://www.ibm.com/resources/watson-health/artificial-intelligence-impacting-healthcare/

McKinsey & Company. (2018, June 26). Transforming healthcare with AI. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare/our-insights/transforming-healthcare-with-ai

University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. (2019, June 24). How AI is revolutionizing healthcare. USAHS. https://www.usa.edu/blog/how-ai-is-revolutionizing-healthcare/

World Economic Forum. (2020, January 20). The future of artificial intelligence in healthcare delivery. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/future-of-artificial-intelligence-healthcare-delivery/