In an era where our global health infrastructure faces unprecedented challenges, the role of technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), is becoming increasingly significant. From facing dire shortages of medical professionals to grappling with the overwhelming impact of the pandemic, healthcare system is at a crossroads.

However, the good news is that amidst all these challenges lies an opportunity for a transformative change. AI, with its groundbreaking capabilities, stands at the forefront of this revolution, poised to reshape the landscape of healthcare as we know it. This blog delves into the critical role of AI in early disease detection, showcasing how this innovative technology can not only alleviate current healthcare burdens, but also pave the way for a more efficient, accurate, and life-saving medical future. Join us as we explore the transformative potential of AI in healthcare, highlighting its impact through real-world applications and studies.

Did you know?

Generative AI aka Gen AI could drastically cut down the administrative workload that contributes to hospital employee burnout.

Here’s how AI can solve some of the issues that continue to fester in the healthcare industry.

Four Ways AI Can Uplift the Healthcare Industry

1. Assist the Doctors in Detecting a Condition Quickly

Approximately 429,105 people died between 1999 and 2019 due to Pulmonary Hypertension. The average age-adjusted mortality rate due to this condition stands at 7.9 per 100,000 individuals and has been increasing by 1.9% per year ever since. (Source: PubMed)

These deaths could have been prevented if this condition had been detected earlier. Still, doctors would often end up misdiagnosing as the symptoms of Pulmonary Hypertension were often similar to those of the common diseases.

In such situations, Artificial Intelligence can help doctors diagnose the disease correctly by analyzing the data gathered from common diagnostic tests like electrocardiograms. This will immensely help the patient get the treatment at the right time without any delays, thus saving their precious lives in return. 

To further prove the above phenomena, here’s a study that was conducted in 2017.

Under this experiment, AI analyzed data on symptoms and genetic history of those people who had a high risk of a stroke. The purpose was to create an algorithm that could successfully place individuals in an early detection stage or ‘at risk’ stage with the help of data. 

The result was a resounding success: The accuracy of AI in diagnosing and predicting stroke stood at 87.6%. This can save many lives, as each year, around 795,000 people in the United States die due to strokes. (Source: National Institutes of Health)

2. Speed up the Drug Discovery

It’s an arduous journey to discover and develop any new drug to treat a specific disease. The entire process takes approx. 10-15 years and costs more than US 2$ billion, on average. (Source: PhRMA)

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown researchers and pharma/drug companies the urgent need to speed up this entire process, and AI can play a major role in it.

Developing a medicine is like solving a cubic puzzle, in which researchers have to understand the biological and genetic variations that cause a disease to infect a human body. Artificial Intelligence can help researchers by analyzing medical datasets, like electronic health records and lab results, and provide the necessary information that they need to understand the reason behind the spread of a disease. However, such records need to remain anonymous for the sake of privacy.     

Furthermore, AI can also help researchers in developing more targeted medicines. For example, researchers can use algorithms to analyze the digitized images of biopsies to identify precise differences between tumors through the presence of genetic mutations in a specific batch of patients. This will help in developing medicines that are designed for specific tumors. That’s not all! These algorithms can also assist the researchers in finding patients in the real world to facilitate clinical trial recruitment.

Read also: Case Study – The Role of AI in Clinical Trial and Drug Development

3. Streamline the Electronic Health Records System

On average, doctors are able to spend only 27% of their time attending to patients, whereas 49.2% of their time goes on managing paperwork, which also includes checking electronic health records. Even in an examination room, they spend 37.0% of their time doing the necessary paperwork. (Source: Forbes) 

This shows that the amount of paperwork that doctors have to deal with is overwhelming.

AI can help streamline this entire system.

For example, it can automatically add the required information of a patient into the electronic record system, thus freeing the doctor from having to manually type everything.

Here is how it will work:

The AI will begin scanning documents, handwritten notes, electronic forms to collect essential data, which it will then use to identify the demographics of the patient, their medical history, test results, and diagnoses.

Once all the above have been identified, the AI solution or the AI-bot will fill all the required fields needed in the electronic health record system.

This will free up the doctor who can then focus on the patient instead. Also, by automating everything, there will be less risk of entering wrong data. The EHR will also remain updated and accurate.

Read also: How Gen AI is proving out to be a Game-Changing Tech for Healthcare

4. Improve the Performance of Surgeons

Whenever surgeons perform surgeries, the procedure is often recorded on video. The purpose of this recording is to analyze the surgery in detail and provide better training to medical professionals and students.”

But it can be a very cumbersome to create highlighted bytes of these videos. It can take many hours or even days to create one. This problem can be solved with the use of AI. Yes, AI with the help of machine learning and deep learning can create these highlighted bytes in a matter of minutes, allowing surgeons to re-watch the events from their operations quickly.

In addition, surgeons have to review their procedures from time to time to improve themselves or learn from others. However, going through hours of footage is a tiring process. AI is a boon here, as it will allow them to quickly look at what happened during the operation, share the footage with their peers, and conduct a post-case analysis.

Read also: How AI Transforming HealthCare Experience?

Takeaway

We have barely scratched the surface of what’s possible with artificial intelligence. Fact is that AI will continue to improve and innovate the healthcare industry significantly, as we see it today. It will continue to expedite advances in drug research and discovery. It will enable better and faster diagnoses. Ultimately, AI will establish far greater efficiency in care and delivery processes. Also, check out the list of Artificial Intelligence Companies by GoodFirms.

Are you inspired by the potential of AI to revolutionize healthcare? Do you see the immense possibilities AI holds in transforming early disease detection, accelerating drug discovery, optimizing electronic health records, and enhancing surgical precision? At Futurism Technologies, we’re not just imagining the future; we’re creating it.

Our suite of Artificial Intelligence solutions is designed to empower healthcare providers, pharma companies, drug research companies, and institutions to harness the full potential of AI. From predictive analytics to intelligent automation, our healthcare AI solutions are tailored to meet the unique challenges and opportunities in the healthcare sector.

Embrace the AI revolution in healthcare with Futurism. Get in touch now.