In a recent Global Insight Special Report, “Generative AI: Enablers and Adopters,” we explored GenAI and the ecosystem surrounding it. Now, we take a deeper dive into the specific impacts that AI and GenAI are likely to have, or are already having, with healthcare.
GenAI has potential applications in improving outcomes for both patients and healthcare providers. The examples below highlight opportunities for AI along the various stages of the patient journey.
Self-triage: AI can help individuals to decide whether professional medical help is required by checking symptoms and guiding the individual to the proper care setting.
Patient intake: After an in-person appointment is scheduled, AI can help to streamline the patient intake process by replacing the “clipboard” approach traditionally used in waiting rooms.
Streamlining clinical documentation: Canadian general practitioners spend some 40% of their working hours on administrative tasks such as writing sick notes and filling out insurance forms for patients according to a survey by the Ontario College of Family Physicians. Similar percentages are observed in other geographies.
Using AI can reduce this burden, freeing up time to care for patients.
Targeted drug marketing: AI can be used to deliver relevant content such as financial assistance opportunities to providers at the point of prescription on behalf of pharmaceutical companies.
For example, if a provider is considering prescribing a drug but the patient can only afford a less effective one, any discount programmes available to improve affordability of the most effective drug would be highly relevant for the patient.
Medical imaging: After an initial visit, a provider may also order a scan. AI can be used to help identify anomalies and potential areas of concern, leading to more precise diagnoses, lower costs and faster turnaround times.
Clinical decision support: After receiving the results of different lab tests or pathology reports, the physician can then move forward with a diagnosis and/or refer the patient to a specialist.
AI can help by gathering data and connecting physicians to peers for collaboration with the goal of selecting the optimal care pathway that best aligns costs and outcomes.
Data consolidation: If surgery is required, AI can consolidate imaging data, surgical videos and patient risk factors, and deliver actionable insights.
Ongoing patient engagement and remote patient monitoring: Once treatment has begun, AI can gather data from and engage with patients, either by helping them to manage chronic conditions or remain engaged by reminding them to take certain medications or attend a certain appointment.
Similarly, in the Medical Supplies and Devices industry, GenAI has the potential to drive efficiency and innovation that, in turn, should bring down costs and deliver better patient outcomes.
A technological tsunami?
In our assessment, the development of AI technologies — including the adoption of GenAI — is poised to become a disruptive megatrend and transform many businesses.
However, it may take many years to understand the full potential of these technologies, as the impacts could take some time to unfold.
Moreover, the adoption of GenAI may be held back by challenges such as ensuring accurate responses to user input and eliminating the “hallucinations” that occur when the responses produced deviate from reality … as well as by the need to keep user data private.
And because GenAI is an expensive technology, using it to replace human workers in entry level positions may not always make financial sense.
History shows that investors tend to overestimate the short-term benefits of promising new technologies but underestimate their long-term impacts. We believe that this is true of artificial intelligence today.
As GenAI is rolled out across a wide range of industries, it will be important for investors to keep abreast of new developments to understand how this potentially transformational technology is driving changes in the investment landscape.