New Research Indicates AI May Be Catalyst To Making Healthcare More Human

Nearly 80% of US and UK health professionals say AI has reduced health worker burnout; 45% say it has increased time to consult with and treat patients

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is widely expected to drive important benefits across the health system, from increasing efficiency to improving patient outcomes, but it also may be key to making healthcare more human. Benefits range from increasing the amount of time clinicians can spend with patients and on cross-care team collaboration to enhancing the ability to deliver preventative care.

According to a new study of more than 900 healthcare professionals in the U.S. and U.K. conducted by MIT Technology Review Insights with GE Healthcare, nearly half of medical professionals surveyed said AI is already increasing their ability to spend time with and provide care to patients. Additionally, more than 78 percent of healthcare business leaders who reported they have deployed AI in their operations also reported that AI has helped drive workflow improvements, streamlining operational and administrative activities and delivering significant efficiencies toward transforming the future of healthcare.

“Of any industry, AI could have the most profound benefits on human lives if we can effectively harness it across the healthcare system,” said Kieran Murphy, President and CEO, GE Healthcare. “As this research shows, we are already beginning to see its progressive effect – with AI not only fuelling efficiencies within health systems, but also truly evolving the healthcare experience for medical professionals and patients.”

Based on the study, which examines how AI is currently impacting healthcare professionals and the patients they serve today, roadblocks to adoption and opportunities for the future, GE Healthcare and MIT Technology Review Insights found that AI implementation is pervasive with 7 out of 10 healthcare providers already adopting or considering adopting AI.

“Today, AI is being deployed at a scale where we can move from speculating about its potential for healthcare to tracking it,” added Murphy. “From increasing the time healthcare providers can spend with patients to advancing preventative care, we are tremendously encouraged by the trends emerging across the health ecosystem. As a company at the forefront of healthcare data analytics and AI, we believe this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of how intelligent technology will transform lives.”

From Increasing Efficiency to Transforming Care
Among those surveyed, 81 percent believe AI will improve their performance by making them more competitive, and 80 percent believe it is already helping or will help them improve revenues. Even more notably, institutions that have already implemented AI technologies reported that it is playing a key part in rebalancing physician workload from administrative to patient-focused tasks, resulting in more time with patients and collaborating with colleagues across healthcare disciplines.

Today, respondents state that core administrative tasks like updating electronic records can take up to 10 percent of their typical work week. Conversely, respondents at institutions with robust AI deployments indicate they spend nearly 66 percent less time writing reports than their counterparts. Additionally, 45 percent of medical professionals say that AI has allowed them to increase time for patient consultations and to perform surgeries. Almost half say AI will enable more robust diagnoses and more focus on preventative medicine.

AI has also helped alleviate a significant challenge for healthcare providers and institutions facing a rise in health worker burnout over the past decade. In fact, 80 percent of those surveyed indicated that AI has been instrumental in helping to remove barriers and reduce worker burnout. This paves the way for future improvements as AI-enabled technology scales across organizations to help improve data analysis, enable better diagnoses and treatment predictions, and further free medical staff from administrative burdens. Additionally, the vast majority of survey respondents believe AI represents the extension – not extinction – of professional capabilities in healthcare.

Other key survey findings include:

• Medical professionals using AI applications are seeing immediate gains in reducing clinical error
• 75% of medical staff who have AI stated it has enabled better predictions in the treatment of disease
• 78% have reported that their AI deployments have already created workflow improvements
• 60% of AI-empowered medical staff expect to spend more time performing procedures versus administrative or other work
• 68% spend more time collaborating with other staff and across clinical care areas, leading to potential benefits in patient care and precision health

These trends are only expected to grow with survey results indicating that nearly 80 percent of healthcare institutions plan to increase their spending on AI in the next two years, including diverse technologies ranging from medical imaging and diagnostics to patient data and risk analytics. Further, nearly three in four healthcare institutions that use or plan to use AI will develop their own AI algorithms in the next two years.

Detailed survey findings and methodology can be found at: https://www.technologyreview.com/hub/ai-effect/

About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare is the $19.8 billion healthcare business of GE. As a leading provider of medical imaging, monitoring, biomanufacturing, and cell and gene therapy technologies, GE Healthcare enables precision health in diagnostics, therapeutics and monitoring through intelligent devices, data analytics, applications and services. With over 100 years of experience in the healthcare industry and more than 50,000 employees globally, the company helps improve outcomes more efficiently for patients, healthcare providers, researchers and life sciences companies around the world. For more information, visit www.gehealthcare.com .

Survey Methodology
In October 2019, MIT Technology Review Insights, in association with GE Healthcare, surveyed more than 900 healthcare professionals from the United States and United Kingdom working at health-care institutions. Respondents included a representative cross section of medical professionals, business and technology leaders and administrators.

MIT Technology Review Insights is the custom publishing division of MIT Technology Review, the world’s longest-running technology magazine, backed by the world’s foremost technology institution—producing live events and research on the leading technology and business challenges of the day. Insights conducts qualitative and quantitative research and analysis in the US and abroad and publishes a wide variety of content, including articles, reports, infographics, videos, and podcasts. And through its growing MIT Technology Review Global Panel, Insights has unparalleled access to senior-level executives, innovators, and thought leaders worldwide for surveys and in-depth interviews. For more information, contact insights@technologyreview.com.