Opinion: Artificial intelligence is a Sask tool.medical crisis

Artificial Intelligence (AI) seems to be taking over the world. Articles about AI are proliferating in the news and on social media about the possibilities and dangers of AI and how it will reshape our lives.

Almost every day we hear about the wonders and mistakes of AI software such as ChatGPT. But what are the practical applications of AI in healthcare, and can it be used to address the post-coronavirus pandemic medical crisis we are currently facing?

AI is a set of technologies that enable computers or machines to simulate human intelligence, especially the ability to solve problems and learn.

AI areas such as natural language processing, computer vision, machine learning, and deep learning, and the ability to analyze large amounts of data, make AI particularly suitable for healthcare applications.

Streamlining healthcare administrative processes will likely be one of the largest applications of AI in healthcare.

By improving patient flow, reducing the burden of repetitive tasks and reducing clerical errors, administrative pressure on healthcare workers is reduced and healthcare professionals are more likely to engage in quality relationships. It can free up time, enhance direct patient care, and potentially reduce burnout.

Combining virtual care technology with AI has the potential to transform hospital care into home care. Remote monitoring technologies that communicate with medical hubs have the potential to facilitate patient follow-up, identify and prevent life-threatening events, and facilitate self-care.

A major barrier to addressing the huge surgical backlog caused by the pandemic is the lack of inpatient capacity. AI-enhanced virtual care solutions have the potential to make post-operative follow-up at home safe and effective.

More complex applications of AI, such as clinical decision support, personalized medicine, and real-time collaboration with clinicians, are even further down the road. A major challenge in using AI in healthcare is integrating it into established healthcare systems and healthcare worker workflows.

This requires cultural changes, system-wide changes, and building trust in AI processes. When AI is used in patient care, the Hippocratic principle of “do no harm” should be applied to AI.

Ethical applications of AI in healthcare ensure data security and confidentiality, and monitor data quality to avoid errors and biases that can lead to patient harm and unfairness in healthcare delivery. is needed.

Governance structures and regulatory pathways must also be established to ensure transparency of clinical application validation and AI processes.

AI will not replace healthcare workers, but some studies show that AI can help healthcare workers by performing routine and repetitive administrative tasks that could account for up to 70% of healthcare workers. has a real potential to accelerate the provision of Take time to refocus patients on direct patient care.

AI may become an essential tool in our medical arsenal to improve the care we provide to our patients, giving us time to become more human.

Dr. Ivar Mendez is Professor of Neurosurgery and Director of the Virtual Care and Remote Presence Robotics Program at the University of Saskatchewan.