HOSTILE TAKEOVER? AI IN THE HEALTHCARE WORKFORCE.
Dear healthcare professionals, AI is not here to take your jobs. 2023 has been something, it seems like there is a new AI tool released every other second, I can barely scroll through my Twitter feed without seeing a fearmongering post …..or two predicting the doom of AI on all our jobs across various industries.
The recent stride of AI breakthrough this year has been positioned by many as the great haul, a hostile takeover if you will. Fortunately, this is not an iRobot sequel, so we can all just take a breather.
Typically there are four types of reactions to the recent AI boom. The fear of missing out, the fear of AI dominance, Total acceptance, and indifference. AI is the new gold rush for corporations and individuals alike that do not want to miss out, picture the crypto bull market in the first half of 2021, no one wants to be left out of something life-changing like that again. Then some people are so convinced that we are in a simulation of a Will Smith movie, we are not. Somewhere in the middle of all this are people who think AI is the future and wholeheartedly accept the change, no questions asked. Finally, some are painfully uninterested, it is just an overhyped phase like many before. Depending on how you choose to look at AI, especially as a healthcare professional, chances are you are one of the above.
In truth, each response is valid. AI could be the next gold rush, so it makes sense that nobody would want to miss out on that. It is also a thing of concern as well, how far could this AI thing go? Would jobs be affected? What about privacy and intellectual property being ripped off? To deny that there are no legitimate concerns would be dishonest. However, although AI will not replace essential workers in the healthcare industry, professionals that learn, adapt, and infuse AI into their work will stand out. To fully utilize AI, you must first “embrace then engage”. To embrace AI in the healthcare workforce, we must identify and understand the benefits of integrating AI into our work.
WHAT ARE THE WAYS AI POSITIVELY IMPACTS THE HEALTHCARE WORKFORCE, BRINGING VALUABLE BENEFITS TO THE TABLE?
- Enhanced Efficiency through Automation: AI automates routine and repetitive tasks, such as data entry and administrative processes, allowing healthcare professionals to dedicate more time to complex and critical aspects of patient care. This improves overall efficiency, enabling you to focus on delivering personalized and high-quality care to your patients.
- Improved Accuracy for Informed Decision-Making: AI algorithms analyze vast amounts of patient data and medical literature, providing accurate and evidence-based recommendations for diagnosis and treatment plans. This helps you make more informed decisions, leading to improved accuracy and precision in your patient care strategies.
- Streamlined Assistance for Enhanced Patient Care: AI can act as a virtual assistant, supporting you in various tasks such as scheduling appointments, answering patient queries, and providing basic medical information. By alleviating some of the administrative burdens, AI helps streamline your workflow, allowing you to dedicate more time and attention to direct patient care, ultimately enhancing patient satisfaction and overall healthcare delivery.
The 3A is the meat and bones of embracing AI in the healthcare workforce, to adopt AI, you must first understand what it does and the benefits to be achieved as a healthcare professional.
However, embracing is one thing, and engaging is another, How do you integrate AI into your work? What steps are needed to ensure that AI is being used to its full potential? I developed and suggest the five-step framework below:
- Define objectives: Clearly outline your goals and objectives for incorporating AI into your healthcare practice, identifying areas where AI can bring value, such as enhancing medical imaging, improving data analysis, and streamlining administrative tasks.
- Assess readiness: Evaluate your readiness to adopt AI, considering factors such as infrastructure, data quality, your own skills, and regulatory compliance. Identify any gaps and develop plans to address them.
- Collaborate and build partnerships: Involve key stakeholders, including fellow healthcare professionals, administrators, IT personnel, and patients. Collaborate with technology vendors, research institutions, and AI experts to access their expertise and resources.
- Conduct pilot projects and iterate: Test and validate AI applications in real-world healthcare settings through small-scale pilot projects specific to your practice. Monitor outcomes, gather feedback from your patients and colleagues, and refine the AI solutions based on the lessons learned.
- Scale up and integrate: Develop a roadmap for scaling up the adoption of AI within your healthcare practice. Integrate AI technologies into your existing workflows, systems, and processes to maximize their impact and ensure seamless integration into your daily practice.
This five-step framework can be refined and adopted into any industry outside the healthcare sector, which is a testament to the flexibility and adaptability of AI technology.
We are barely scratching the surface of AI technology and the possibilities are endless, some companies such as Tempus Labs are already investing heavily into AI technology for healthcare and how it can be harnessed to make the workforce more efficient and effective. Embracing AI can be daunting no doubt, but I strongly believe it can and should be used for our benefit as healthcare professionals.
LOOKING AHEAD
The future of AI in healthcare is very promising and exciting. Big tech companies are currently in an unspoken health tech arms race this year despite the massive layoffs and funding undercuts. As healthcare professionals looking to grow with the world and keep up with its demands, it is integral to adapt to this new phase of innovations hitting the healthcare industry albeit with caution. Integrating AI into your workflow should be aimed at providing better care for patients, the endgame. I understand that it might take a while to fully convince the majority of the healthcare workforce to see AI as a means to an end and NOT the end, but it is still early days and Rome was not built in a day.
