As the emergence of new technology and artificial intelligence (AI) becomes popular, we are able to see it steadily being applied to the healthcare industry. With this happening, the question on everyone's mind is, what are the pros and cons?
With new technology and AI systems in healthcare, we are beginning to see many opportunities. With the usage of technology, it allows for personalisation of care. Also, AI allows healthcare workers the opportunity to work together with the new technology. Finally, it allows for the time spent on administrative tasks to be cut, allowing for more time to be spent on things that matter most.
However, there have also been challenges that have or will be faced for the healthcare industry. Some pains that will be faced are ethical concerns regarding trust. Also, with the usage of technology, the challenge of data storage and analysis arises.
This article aims to answer the question, what are the pros and cons, with examination of both the opportunities and challenges with technology and AI in the healthcare industry.
One opportunity that technology and AI presents for the healthcare industry is personalized care for the consumers. They are able to receive unique and customizable experiences that meet their needs and wants.
Using AI and emerging technologies in healthcare can allow organizations to personalize patient treatment and care on a mass scale. Providing consumers with the information and connections that are relevant in their specific health cases allows them to make informed decisions.
Another advantage that AI and technology give to healthcare would be the ability for healthcare professionals to work together with the technology. As Dr. Miner from an article in Lisa Ward from WSJ states,
“I don’t think it is an “us vs. them, human vs. AI” situation with chatbots… If chatbots prove safe and effective, we could see a world where patients access treatment and decide if and when they want another person involved. Clinicians would be able to spend time where they are most useful and wanted.”
Working together “hand-in-hand” with AI and emerging technology, rather than viewing the situation as “us vs. them”, allows for the correct allocation of duties and time. For example, a nurse may be able to spend more time with a patient while AI is completing the nurse’s other duties that need to be performed.
Lastly, an opportunity that technology brings to the healthcare industry would be the reduced time spent on administrative tasks. As mentioned earlier, AI and humans will work together to accomplish the tasks that need to be performed. The implementation of technology, such as AI, allows humans to spend more time on certain tasks.
As we recognize, AI and technology will shift the work dynamic in healthcare. Many of the duties that clinicians, medical assistants, etc. perform will transition to being performed by AI and technology.
There are different areas that will be impacted including:
However, this impact will not be a disadvantage, but rather an opportunity for healthcare professionals to capitalize on. As AI and emerging technologies will start by completing monotonous and repetitive tasks that usually absorb significant amounts of time from humans. This will allow for time to be allocated efficiently and humans will be able to spend time on the things that matter most.
There have or will be challenges that the healthcare industry will be faced with. One pain included ethical concerns, especially in terms of trust. Questions have been raised about AI’s possible impact on patients and the healthcare system.
There are ethical debates about how technology should be used. Many people lack confidence in the ability of machines to perform healthcare tasks, leading to a lack of trust. This could be a pain, as it may take time and education about technology for many people to gain trust in AI.
Another challenge that may be presented in the industry would be data storage and data analysis. Data will be used to drive the future of healthcare”. By using technology, the healthcare industry will have an economic model built around aggregating and storing large amounts of data.
This may pose a threat, as organizations may lack the capability and expertise to undertake this task. It is important for customers’ privacy and security, that healthcare organizations prepare themselves by employing data scientists and keeping their storage up to date.
With the examination of both the opportunities and challenges with technology and AI in the healthcare industry, we are able to begin answering the question, what are the pros and cons? As the emergence of AI and new technology is introduced to the healthcare sector, we see many opportunities and challenges.
Opportunities include personalisation of care, as consumers receive unique and customisable experiences that meet their needs and wants. Additionally, technology allows healthcare workers to hand-in-hand work with AI, leading to efficient allocation of duties and time for healthcare professionals. Also, it reduces time spent on administrative tasks, which allows humans to spend more time on certain tasks.
There are also challenges that the industry faces. As people may lack trust in machines performing tasks, it will take education and time for many people to build trust in AI. Also, organizations could lack the expertise to store or analyze data, which will need to be combated by keeping their storage up to date and employing data scientists.
There are many opportunities and challenges in the future of healthcare as technology and AI are implemented. Overall, this article recognizes both the pros and cons and can articulate that the opportunities outweigh the challenges in this debate.
