Better experiences and improved outcomes with AI

Data is quickly becoming the new currency in healthcare led by organisations that prioritise secure storage, clinical interpretation, and the frictionless movement of data between patients and doctors. Dr. David Rhew, Global Chief Medical Officer & VP of Healthcare, Microsoft, USA, has spoken at large about engaging clinicians and patients in the digital age and about the power of data. Artificial intelligence integration in healthcare has witnessed an acceleration in recent years and topics on how it could be positioned to create better experiences for both patients and providers are emerging as a key point of discussion.

In the 2023 edition of Florida International Medical Expo (FIME), Dr. Rhew, will focus on how AI improves outcomes at both the individual and the population level, and high impact use cases such as clinical and clinician workforce crisis, and ways that the overall efficiency of healthcare can be improved through data waste management. He will also highlight how organisations and individuals can apply AI responsibly.

Emerging AI technologies and trends

Newer technologies in the market such as ambient clinical intelligence (ACI) will transform experiences for both patients and providers.
“During a doctor’s visit, the physician usually types in notes during the consultation with the patient that goes into the electronic health record. With ambient clinical intelligence, the doctor and patient can have a conversation and at the end of that experience, everything is captured, codified, and brought into the format of a clinical progress note,” Dr. Rhew explained.

The clinician can review, edit, and hit a button to bring it directly into the medical record. This is not only an incredible time saver for the clinician, but also improves the patient experience during that interaction.

“That is just one example of how natural language processing is being used in healthcare to be able to help us create these better experiences. We have witnessed this not just with voice, but with text and images as well. With generative AI, there is an opportunity for this type of artificial intelligence to be applied in so many different ways,” added Dr. Rhew

Ethical considerations and challenges

When it comes to the world of data, the process of collaboration and communication is typically in the form of de-identification, which is the process of removing details about a patient that, alone or in conjunction with other details used to identify that patient. “You can strip out the name and some of the unique identifiers. But for some of these datasets, such as genomics, you really cannot de-identify. This is the type of information that inherently needs to be highly secure and kept private,” said the Global Chief Medical Officer.

One of the challenges with centralised data sharing is the increasing risk of cyberattacks. “An exciting technology that allows us to ensure privacy-protected collaboration is confidential compute where data can be brought together and computed in a secure enclave,” he added.

In this case, the processing is done directly in the microchip to ensure that the data does not get exposed to third parties, or even to the developers.

From an AI perspective, Dr. Rhew explained that datasets developed by software developers may be subject to subconscious bias. Also, data sets, if not large enough and diverse enough may not be generalisable and representative of specific sub-populations.

“These are the areas where we, as an industry, need to start thinking about how we can develop responsible AI practices that will allow us to be able to ensure that AI is implemented responsibly,” he explains.

Dr. David Rhew will speak on ‘Better experiences and improved outcomes with AI’ at the Transformation Talks on Wednesday, June 21 at Florida International Medical Expo (FIME) in Miami.

This article appears in Omnia Health magazine. Read the full issue online today.

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