AI- The harbinger of massive potential for transforming global healthcare scenario
Many centuries ago several classical philosophers strongly held the belief that an average human brain works mechanically- manipulating different symbols to form conclusive thoughts. However, this concept did not gain popularity among the general populace. The AI systems of modern times are largely based on this concept- albeit slightly molding the equation. These systems use manipulate specific symbols and data to form logical conclusions and take instance-specific actions very much similar to the human brain. We have seen how these smart machines are helping different sectors. One such sector that has started realizing the benefits of AI is Healthcare.
As of now, AI has been gaining good momentum in the healthcare field and helping healthcare organizations in diverse ways. In this blog, we will discuss the real-life benefits of AI in streamlining clinical routines and how can it be an asset for the physicians and patients:
Encouraging people to stay and remain healthy
As the population is increasing the healthcare facilities need to replace their conventional model of reactive services to proactive prevention. As we all remember- “Prevention is always better than cure”. Smart wearable devices empower the patients to take better control of their health with much less dependency.
Available in different convenient formats and sizes like smartwatches- these devices enable the users to know about their vital health stats like heartbeat, blood pressure, sugar levels, activity profile, and even stress. It helps people in two ways.
Having specific information about their health profile encourages them to adopt a healthy lifestyle and diet habits which can eventually enhance their life quality and in a due reasonable time, it will significantly reduce the clinical visits or hospitalization cases.
It also helps the users to take quick measures to avoid complications. These smart AI-enabled devices can automatically alert users upon unusual instances like rising blood pressure or low sugar level. They can also provide ideal recommendations like quickly eating sugar candy to balance sugar levels.
Automating interpreting of medical reports and statements
When a patient produces the previous medical records to a physician, they take some time to read, understand, and interpret that record in the context of existing healthcare issues of the patients. It certainly requires analysis, logical inference, and pattern finding- something that consumes time and produces some stress.
Loaded with sophisticated pattern-matching skills, computational proficiency, and logical capabilities along with human-like adaptability the AI applications can accurately automate and compress this entire process of interpretation within a fraction of time.
It can prepare a fine summary of different reports, prescriptions, and patient’s statements with actionable insights and recommendations. So the physicians can directly get the well-processed information which makes it easier for them to provide conclusive decisions and medical advice.
It not only saves time of doctor and patient also plays a vital role in eliminating delays and unnecessary queues. Additionally, it also removes the probabilities of human errors while interpreting a large set of data and spoken statements under demanding often stressful ambiance.
Automating memo preparations
In the context of the medical field, memos do hold a very important position- not only for individual cases but also for perusal in a wider context like research and development. Memo preparation is not without its challenges though.
Typing memos requires a good amount of time, effort, and attention while also creating distraction and stress in the busy schedule of physicians. AI can chip in here to eliminate the hassles and delays by automating the entire process in real-time.
For instance, NLP enabled AI bots can type the dictated conversation with the same competency as a human assistant and even surpassing natural limitations of the latte like fatigue, attention wavering, or inconsistent typing/ data entry speed.
Unlike conventional systems, it not only converts speech to text but can also adapt itself to accurately understand different accents and even overcomes tone/voice-related issues (husky voice, unclear pronunciation, too fast/slow pace, etc.) which make it a competent assistant for noting down the conversation.
Additionally, it can accurately enter the relevant text in designated input columns of electronic health record systems thanks to the improved contextual understanding. With all this note-taking work being reliably handled by AI bots the doctors can dedicate more time to their core job- tending to patients with full attention and energy.
Relieving urgent care centres of the generic cases
Urgent care centers lose their real objective if they keep struggling with generic cases. However, this is not uncommon to find many such centers piled up with a mix of generic and genuine cases that make it difficult for them to prioritize the needs.
By strategically using virtual AI chatbots in this context it has now become possible to remove unnecessary chaos and crowd so that urgent care centers can concentrate fully on genuine cases only where their attention and expertise are required most.
For instance, Providence St. Joseph has developed a smart chatbot that can help in a highly accurate evaluation of people with apparently less serious health instances.
Through the popup window, Grace- the chatbot interacts with the patients to collect the key symptoms and suggest them the ideal course of action to the patients. Upon evaluation, the precision rate of these suggestions was found to be 90%- which is significantly high.
There are many health issues where a person cannot decide the severity of the instance- for example, sudden weakness or dehydration. Instead of directly rushing to the urgent care centers they can just consult with the smart chatbots to know if it is caused due to some underlying serious issue or because of generic issues that can be treated with over the counter medicines.
Streamlining medical visits by eliminating delays
Just like human beings, AI chatbots can also multiply their value through collaboration. For instance, consulting a physician, and visiting a medical center requires several pre-visit and post-visit steps like calling up the receptionist, communicating with the relevant doctor, hiring a cab, and paying the fare. Post-visit the clinics need to collect cash, make receipts, and prepare patients’ files with details. All these activities consume some time and effort contributing to the delays.
It would be a great relief if these disparate activities streamlined in a linear sequence.
With the help of AI the next generation of bots can be developed that can logically connect, automate, and speed up all these disparate activities- consultation, hiring and paying the cab, notifying clinical staff about upcoming visits, and automated files/receipt preparation.
It will eliminate gaps, guesswork, and stress while helping patients to immediately access the required care with zero delays.
