How AI is Changing Healthcare
Picture health systems where physicians have time to prioritize enhancing the quality of care and pursuing their passion for medicine while patients are pleased with their experience. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a popular topic in the healthcare industry, with growing interest surrounding its potential to reshape and reform present-day care delivery. Many healthcare providers look forward to cultivating the benefits of AI to streamline workflows and improve patient outcomes. According to a survey conducted by the American Medical Association (AMA), 65% of 1081 physicians recognize the advantages of tools using AI. Integrating AI into electronic health records (EHRs) can have a significant impact in removing obstacles for physicians that prevent them from delivering top-notch quality care. Due to AI solutions possessing the capability of simplifying several administrative processes for clinics, physicians can have time to prioritize tasks that are highly valuable and important. By harnessing the potential of AI in healthcare technology, providers can achieve high levels of accuracy to reduce the risk of errors and deliver care to patients safely. Here are 3 ways AI can be used to revolutionize medical practices and enhance healthcare delivery.
1. Alleviate Burdens in Practices and Increase Efficiency
One of the promising features of AI in healthcare is its ability to automate documentation processes and reduce tedious paperwork for physicians. Administrative burdens and documentation tasks have been indicated to be the main contributors to physician burnout and reduced efficiency in clinics. Documenting notes and entering them into an EHR system for each patient visit can be a time-consuming process that prevents providers from focusing on crucial tasks. Using AI solutions can help save time for physicians by generating notes based on the conversations they have with their patients. As a result, physicians can easily move from room to room and see more patients within the day without having to worry about completing repetitive work, reducing 75% of their documentation time.
Moreover, AI tools can be used to improve clinical efficiency for medical practices by conducting several data entry processes and automatically synchronizing the information into their EHR systems. AI solutions would accurately input the data into the appropriate fields on the patient’s file and prevent any mistakes from occurring. From billing to claims processing, AI can eliminate administrative burdens affecting practices and identify coding discrepancies in advance to ensure providers are not using their time to fix these errors. Optimizing administrative processes and ensuring compliance with healthcare regulations can empower physicians to work more efficiently while reducing wait times for patients. Therefore, integrating AI into healthcare technology could lead to approximately $20 billion to $60 billion in annual savings for physician groups in the next five years and can enhance healthcare performances for practices.
2. Mitigate Physician Burnout and Maintain Physician Well-being
Physician burnout is an ongoing challenge in modern healthcare, with more providers expressing their desire to leave their profession. According to a 2023 survey conducted by The Physicians Foundation, six in ten physicians have reported experiencing burnout, which had increased from four in ten in 2018. With many providers feeling overwhelmed in their jobs, this can lead to severe implications for the future of the healthcare workforce as it continues to experience shortages and can negatively impact patients. A reduced workforce can cause underserved populations who require care may not be able to receive it, restricting their access to resources. In addition, burnout can increase the medical error rate, which diminishes the quality of care, resulting in higher costs and poorer patient outcomes. Burnout can arise due to factors such as stress, poor mental health, and low job satisfaction. This raises serious patient safety concerns as individuals can become injured or not receive the appropriate treatments, causing their health to deteriorate. Leveraging AI tools can help to reduce physician burnout by supporting providers to focus more on their patients’ care, lowering their workload, and experiencing less exhaustion. Empowering physicians to prioritize their passion allows them to gain a sense of fulfillment from treating their patients, increasing patient satisfaction while maintaining physician well-being.
3. Improve Clinical Decision-Making and Provide Advanced Data Analytics
Using AI tools can be an advantage for providers by enhancing the clinical decision-making process. By analyzing a variety of patient data, physicians can make better-informed decisions regarding their patient’s care and gain insights to predict their health outcomes. This capability is particularly beneficial when performing imaging tests, where AI can detect any abnormalities in the patient’s health and process substantial amounts of data. Therefore, physicians can use AI-driven tools to identify early symptoms or risks for diseases and provide accurate diagnoses, leading to more effective treatments. Furthermore, AI can be a valuable asset when it comes to managing chronic conditions and delaying the progression of diseases for patients.
As the healthcare industry transitions to a value-based care model (VBC), providers are encouraged to take on a proactive approach to their patients’ care because it leads to better results, increases patient engagement, and drives cost savings. AI can facilitate proactive and personalized care, leading to better health outcomes with patient monitoring and predictive analytics to prevent any complications, such as hospitalizations or emergency visits, from occurring.AI can assist physicians in continuously monitoring their patient’s health and provide vital information on their current state by transferring the data in real-time. Ultimately, AI’s role in clinical decision-making and predictive analytics is essential for delivering high-quality care and empowering patients to achieve optimal health.
Revolutionizing The Future of Digital Health Technology with AI
From improving patient outcomes and operational efficiency to combating physician burnout and enhancing care delivery, it is evident that AI is undeniably transforming healthcare. By offering significant benefits in clinical decision-making processes and care delivery, AI can help preserve physician well-being and improve patient experiences with healthcare. Automating the process of documenting notes and data entry eliminates the need for providers to manually create notes and input information into EHRs. This allows them to have the time to interact with their patients, address their health concerns, and see more people daily, which increases their practice’s operational efficiency. Furthermore, AI can be used to help reduce administrative workload for clinics that inhibit physicians from delivering excellent quality care to their patients and preventing delays, enabling them to be more content. Addressing these challenges with AI can help drive value for healthcare while eliminating the burdens that pose on practices and increase physician satisfaction. Moreover, incorporating AI into digital health solutions can equip physicians with the necessary tools to acquire valuable insights into their patient’s health and accelerate their practices’ growth. While AI offers numerous benefits, it also highlights the need to implement them into healthcare systems to help address the current barriers impacting both patients and providers. Ensuring that technologies incorporated with AI are secure is crucial for maintaining patient safety, improving chronic disease management, mitigating health risks, increasing accuracy, and alleviating physician burnout. Overall, with AI having the capabilities of reshaping healthcare delivery, it can innovate technology such as EHRs to elevate practices and improve quality of care, allowing patients to have the opportunity to gain optimal health.