With AI-powered solutions, healthcare providers will be able to optimize processes, develop new drugs faster, personalize care, and ultimately provide more value to patients.
Sandeep Bhargava, SVP, Global Services and Solutions, Public Cloud Business Unit
India’s healthcare industry has always led the world in delivering new and affordable solutions to the people. Its healthcare innovation market is currently USD 30 billion, which is expected to double by fiscal year 2028.
One possible driver for this projection? Artificial intelligence (AI). According to a study by NASSCOM, AI and data in healthcare could increase GDP by up to USD 30 billion by 2025. But it’s important to nail down the specifics. When discussing AI in healthcare, the popular notion is that “everything will be improved with AI.” But what exactly does that mean? Let’s look at some examples already being implemented and a few on the horizon.
Detecting and Intervening Faster
We already know that AI’s computing power can quickly go through large volumes of data to derive order from chaos. So, it stands to reason that AI-powered diagnostic tools would be able to look for patterns and trends in medical records, imaging, and lab results. By bringing AI into the mix, doctors can detect and flag early signs of diseases — and intervene faster.
One example is being able to diagnose chronic conditions such as diabetes or heart disease sooner. From there, doctors can quickly set up patient visits to monitor them, track their progress, and ultimately improve their outcomes.
Detect Faster, Treat Earlier
AI can also do wonders when it comes to medical testing and imaging. AI-powered tools can now help doctors detect irregularities on a scale and speed that wasn’t previously possible. Doctors can now spot breast cancer from mammograms that could have otherwise been missed. Blood tests can also be undertaken to detect early-stage gastric cancer with an almost 90% accuracy rate.
Bringing New Drugs to Market Sooner
Developing new drugs is laborious, complex, and expensive. Researchers have to pore over mountains of biological data and evaluate thousands (maybe even tens of thousands) of patients to predict drug interactions and find the perfect candidates.
AI can streamline this process by reducing the time and cost needed to bring new drugs to the market. For example, natural language processing can help match the right patients with the right clinical trials, cutting off years in the drug development pipeline.
Delivering A New Standard of Care
Telemedicine and telehealth are also improving thanks to AI. Patients will receive a new standard of care through virtual consultations, remote health monitoring, real-time medical advice, timely interventions, and continuous monitoring for mental health support.
We can see this happening in senior care. Wearables and remote monitoring technologies can help keep track of their patients without limiting their freedom. Voice-activated AI applications can deliver medication reminders, appointment scheduling, and emergency responses. AI-driven monitoring systems can detect unusual movements (such as falls) and immediately alert emergency services.
AI-enhanced telemedicine also expands healthcare access to underserved populations, ensuring that more people receive the care they need before they need it. By prioritizing patient inquiries, analyzing symptoms, and coming up with options before the consultation, healthcare providers can give their patients accurate and timely care regardless of location.
However, AI can be leveraged to automate data protection and predict interactions to prevent future breaches and misuse. It’s not a one-time feature; by continuously monitoring and adapting to new threats, generative AI can enhance existing security features and protect patient data.
But let’s go one step further by preventing abuse before it happens. What about using AI to detect healthcare fraud and scams? AI-powered fraud detection systems can now help hospitals and other healthcare organizations bring down reimbursements from fraudulent claims by combining machine learning and data analytics.
Make no mistake! AI is here to stay and set to transform the healthcare industry. It’s a powerful tool that can help healthcare providers deliver better treatments, prevent illnesses, and better secure patient data. As AI evolves, healthcare will become more proactive, personalized, and efficient. It’s a win-win for everyone.
-Sandeep Bhargava is the SVP, Global Services and Solutions, Public Cloud Business Unit at Rackspace Technology
