A new World Economic Forum report highlights the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare and the importance of public-private collaboration in driving its global adoption.

In response to the systemic challenges that are straining health systems worldwide, the report proposes a global taxonomy for healthcare AI uses and shows how global healthcare systems could unlock the full potential of these new technologies to transform patient care, reduce costs and enable people to live healthier, longer lives.

The study – led by the Forum’s Centre for Health and Healthcare n collaboration with global management consulting and technology firm ZS – analysed of more than 400 existing AI use cases as well as in-depth interviews with 50 global leaders across technology, healthcare delivery, biopharma, government, academia and more.

How AI is helping or can help:

• Treatment: “Algorithms can predict how an individual patient will likely respond to a specific course of treatment, a key example of how AI can augment – rather than replace – healthcare providers.”
• Education: “Applications using conversational AI can help patients better understand their condition, a family member’s condition or take preventive action before developing a condition.”
• Diagnosis: “So far, this is most advanced in imaging, where algorithms have shown promise at detecting cancer and other maladies faster and, in some cases, more accurately than clinicians. New capabilities, such as using the sound of a person’s voice to detect congestive heart failure, depression and COVID-19, are being explored.  However, many of these applications are still being reviewed by regulators.”
• Adherence: “AI-enabled digital health tools not only help patients with dosing reminders but can also predict the likelihood of patients discontinuing care and suggest appropriate proactive interventions.”
• Care operations: “Administrative AI and automation tools can help healthcare providers better predict and prevent fraud and integrity issues and optimize staffing levels, lowering healthcare costs by eliminating waste.”
• Care informatics: “Hospital systems rely on IT and data systems that connect providers with patient populations to manage public health and create interventions. In some cases, multilateral teams are exploring the use of AI on informatics systems to predict disease spread, i.e. pandemic preparedness.”
• Care delivery: “These applications range from robotics-assisted surgery to everyday tasks, such as using conversational AI to triage patients.”

While the report highlights the potential of AI in healthcare, it also identifies common barriers to its adoption: insufficient high-quality data, low trust in AI solutions and inadequate technological infrastructure, among others.

“Public-private support for creating a strong data foundation and improved privacy laws, responsible and transparent design of AI algorithms, and significant investment to adopt these technologies at scale will be crucial to overcome these barriers and ensure equitable access to these innovations worldwide,” the authors say.

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Source: World Economic Forum