One-Third of Providers to Boost Artificial Intelligence Spending

December 17, 2019 - More than one-third of respondents will increase artificial intelligence (AI) spending in the next two years, according to a recent survey conducted by MIT Technology Review Insights and GE Healthcare.

The survey of more than 900 healthcare professionals found that healthcare organizations are already using AI to improve aspects of care, like data analysis, diagnosis and treatment predictions, and provider workflows. And many are seeing improvements as a result.

For example, 78 percent of medical staffers reported that AI deployments in their organizations have already created workflow improvements. Professionals working in AI-enabled hospitals were also more likely to say that AI has improved the streamlining actions to help frontline are teams.

These improvements and major advancements in technology are spurring providers to invest in AI solutions, the survey found. About72 percent of respondents reported an interest in implementing AI. About 79 percent of survey respondents also said that they plan to increase their budget on AI applications next year, while only one percent said they expect to decrease their budget.

“By focusing on areas that patients, providers, or systems are invested in addressing, we have set the stage for more rapid adoption and dissemination of AI,” Rachael Callcut, associate professor of surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center and director of data science for the Center for Digital Health Innovation, said in the report.

Healthcare professionals showed the highest level of interest in adopting AI-powered patient flow optimization, with about 65 percent of respondents showing interest in this type of solution, including 39 percent who have adopted it and 26 percent who were considering adoption.

Professionals were also interested in using AI for medical imaging and diagnostics, with 64 percent expressing interest, followed by automation of EHRs via natural language processing tools (63 percent), predictive analytics (63 percent), and patient data and risk analytics (62 percent).

Other top areas of interest for AI deployment included AI-enabled wearables, AI-enabled screening for diseases/conditions, automated medical condition diagnosis, AI-enabled dosage error reduction system, and predictive health tracks.

Additionally, more than 80 percent of survey respondents believe that AI is, or will, significantly improve their ability to generate revenue, recruit talent, and be competitive, the survey highlighted.

To realize success from AI deployments, healthcare organizations developed or plan to develop AI application algorithms, the survey showed. Approximately three-quarters (74 percent) of survey respondents said they were currently developing or planning to develop AI application algorithms. Healthcare organizations are trying to tailor their AI deployments to fit their organization’s precise requirement, the survey explained. These efforts, on average, require the hiring of 9.4 individuals, the survey found.

AI adoption and deployment in healthcare is rapidly increasing, but professionals still face many challenges with using the technology. For example, 57 percent of respondents said integrating AI applications into existing systems is a challenge. Another obstacle is the disruptive impact AI deployments can have on existing systems and processes, the survey stated.

Professionals were also skeptical about the provable benefit and overall cost of AI. And medical staff without AI have two times more the concern about data privacy than those with AI.

“It’s a challenging working to move the field forward in a transformative way with artificial intelligence,” Callcut said in the report. “There has to be alignment in vision, commitment to exploration, and mutual excitement. Everyone involved needs to be willing to push forward into a sometimes unproven space. If we are afraid to fail on a project and thus, don’t take it on, the opportunity to change the future will pass us by.”

Healthcare organizations are still navigating the AI adoption space, but industry experts quoted in the survey do not anticipate the obstacles of deployment to hinder future investments.

The more humanized the application of AI is, the more it will be adopted and improve results and return on investment. “Humans are not going away, they are just going to make smarter decisions, with fewer errors,” Bijoy Khandheria, a cardiologist at Aurora Hospital’s Aurora International & Executive Health Program concluded.