AI IN THE HEALTHCARE MARKET ACCOUNTED FOR $14 BILLION DOLLARS IN 2020, BUT IT IS PROJECTED TO REACH $119.8 BILLION DOLLARS BY THE YEAR 2027
A QUICK STORY. Has anyone gone to a quest lab lately? The reason I ask is because I recently went to have some labs drawn. I walked in, it was early, and I was the only person in the room. There was no one there but myself and a wall with four kiosks with gray TV screens looking at me. I walked up to one of the screens and it flashed touch here and I did, hoping that some sort of candy or reward would come out of a slot. It didn’t. It then flashed scan in your driver’s license which I did and then the screen read hello Richard. Then I replied hello back not realizing I was talking to a computer screen. It asked me to verify my address and date of birth then scan in my insurance cards which I did and pressed finish. It then asked me to have a seat. A TV in the waiting room area quickly displayed my name and the time I registered. Almost immediately the phlebotomist opened the door, called my name and I had my blood drawn. The whole episode took about 20 minutes. I left realizing that I had briefly seen only one human during this exchange. Most of you who know me know that I am very afraid of needles. I missed the receptionist checking me in and assuring me that it wasn’t going to hurt and that I was going to be fine. Sitting in the car I thought this was efficient and quick but very impersonal. Is this what we want for our patients and the future of medicine? Sacrificing compassion and reassurance of the human experience for the sake of efficiency? Or, do we want a blend of both to deliver the best healthcare we can. Artificial intelligence is the ability of machines to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence such as reasoning, learning, decision making and problem solving. AI uses computer software to simulate human cognition that drives machine learning algorithms that can teach the machine how to perform a specific task and provide accurate results by identifying patterns. It does so by developing its own algorithms from massive amounts of downloaded data. We see this in Google, Siri, Alexa, IBM Watson, directional maps and more which have permeated our daily lives such that we are absolutely in need and are dependent on them. Already, the use of AI has affected the labor force. One survey reported that 75% of the companies questioned said they expect AI technology to eliminate up to 26 million jobs over the next five years. The medical community is no different and jobs have been lost and more will or be modified in many sectors. The use of AI is also moving from hospital administrative tasks to actual clinical decision making. AI is being used in pathology, radiology, cardiology, gastroenterology, and primary care. Algorithms for diagnosis and treatment of various disease entities and emergencies are already being used and more are
being formulated and tested. Amazon, last fall, launched a virtual clinic in 50 states staffed by “licensed providers.” Licensed by whom and where? The recent Covid pandemic helped accelerate AI development. Globally, AI in the healthcare market accounted for $14 billion dollars in 2020, but it is projected to reach $119.8 billion dollars by the year 2027. AI is a wonderfully exciting complex innovation that will no doubt help but will also change the landscape of the practice of medicine to come. But, not without serious concerns about its ability to overtake and stifle the human art of medicine. The president of the artificial intelligence society stated that the medical community and society will have difficulty moving through this “transitional phase” where machines will be doing better and more efficiently than humans. There is that word again, efficient. The FDA and the AMA are taking steps to develop a model for evaluating, standardizing, and regulating the use of AI but it is still in its early days and essentially AI is unregulated. Big tech is already fighting some minor regulations. There are some phenomenal assets that AI can bring as an adjunct to the practice of medicine. AI can provide real time data for a quicker diagnosis and decision making allowing for earlier and more personalized therapies. AI can streamline tasks such as scheduling, coding, reviewing insurance claims and even generating care paths/ By maximizing productivity and cutting healthcare costs, it can reduce the estimated $750 billion that is wasted annually. It can help monitor patient progress and alert patients and providers if a condition worsens. Recently a woman was awakened in the middle of the night by her smartwatch alerting her that she had gone into atrial fibrillation and her risk for stroke. AI can advance medical research by analyzing massive amounts of data to discover new insights patterns and correlations from large and complex datasets that would be otherwise difficult for humans to process. With limited or nonexistent healthcare access in impoverished communities exacerbated by the shortage of health care professionals, AI can improve health care by enhancing remote access to these areas. It is estimated by the year 2035, there will be a global deficit of 12.9 million skilled healthcare workers in the workforce. Although I’ve touched on a few of the phenomenal things that artificial intelligence can do to enhance the practice of medicine,
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J LA MED SOC | VOL 175 | FALL 2023
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