Utilization of Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare
Utilization of Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare
Name:
Institution:
Utilization of Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the new technological invention that has revolutionized many sectors including the health sector. In recent years, AI tools have been applied in the provision of healthcare. The use of AI tools in healthcare has had several impacts not only on the health sector but also the economy of countries where the technology has been applied. Several healthcare systems have adopted the use of AI technologies both in diagnosis and in the provision of health services. Although the United States has also adopted AI tools into its healthcare system, notable gains are yet to be realized as compared to the impacts that AI technologies have had in other developed countries. This paper presents a report on the utilization of Artificial Intelligence for healthcare in American and potential impacts for economic growth in the country with reference to the use of AI in different countries.
One of the countries with the largest healthcare systems is China. As a developed country, China has often been compared to the United States in various aspects including its healthcare system and economy. China is one of the countries that has adopted the use of Artificial Intelligence in its healthcare system. Through the use of AI technologies, the country has been able to achieve tremendous successes in diagnosis, treatment and post-discharge follow up on patients. One of the notable AI technologies that is widely used in China is the ZhongAnTech technology (Zhang, 2018). The technology enables patients and people seeking health services to interact with physicians, doctors and nurses by allowing them to communicate their needs and facilitating health professionals to provide health services without necessarily seeing their patients physically.
Some of the impacts on healthcare that have been noted in countries that have adopted the use of Artificial Intelligence include; reducing premium rates, ease of access to care, reducing severity of emergency cases, better care for patients with chronic conditions. In Finland where AI has been largely adopted into the provision of healthcare, recent research indicates reduced premium rates among patients. For example, in Finland every year, there are 14,000 people who experience a brain injury that have benefited from the use of AI tools in providing care for them (Dutt, 2020). Due the use of AI in the country, healthcare operations and activities have been made convenient and easier to access.
Besides, cases of deaths associated with chronic conditions have dropped significantly since Artificial Intelligence tools were introduced into Finland’s healthcare system in the 1950s. This is due to the fact that AI tools have come in handy in facilitating follow-up programs for patients with chronic conditions hence reducing avoidable deaths that could result from lack of post-discharge care (Ahmad & Nabi, 2021). Moreover, government spending on healthcare has been significantly reduced since AI tools were adopted in the country’s healthcare system in the 1950s. While it was costly to adopt AI technologies into the healthcare sector at the beginning, the technologies have made provision of healthcare cheaper and cost-effective. This has had an impact in the country’s economy has the country has been able to cut off its expenditure on medications and treatment and labor costs (Zhang, 2018). Besides, money which would have otherwise been used for medication and treatment of its patients have been channeled to other sectors of the economy. This explains why the Finish economy has been stable and on a steady rise since mid-20th century.
Through the storage of large volumes of data that has been made possible by Artificial Intelligence tools such as apps like Babylon used in the UK, medical personnel are able to monitor and account for patient’s medical history thus improving healthcare outcomes. It is undeniable the role that Artificial Intelligence plays in behavioral and mental healthcare in developed countries such as the United Kingdom (Dutt, 2020). AL tools have been designed and developed to work like human brains. AL technologies such as Babylon are equipped to store data which can be used to improve health outcomes. Using data stored in AI tools, the country’s healthcare system has been able to achieve better health outcomes. Data from AI technologies can be used to prescribe medication and treatment to patients based on their medical history.
While the use of Artificial Intelligence makes the provision of health care less costly, it is costly to use traditional methods of healthcare provision. In less developed and developing countries especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, lack of use of Artificial Intelligence is associated with poor health outcomes. In Libya, a country in North Africa, the healthcare system is struggling to meet the needs of its population (Zhang, 2018). Due to the civil war being experienced in the country, there is a high demand of emergency health services. A study conducted in the country in 2019 reveals that about one million people in Libya have acute health needs (Hlávka, 2020). Unfortunately, the healthcare system in the country cannot meet these needs. Due to lack of Artificial Intelligence, the healthcare system in the country is facing a crisis with the demand for health services higher than the ability of the system to provide for these services. Due to the civil war in the country, many healthcare institutions have been destroyed. Moreover, the war has led to an economic crisis in the country hence the government is not able to fund its healthcare system or deploy the use AI tools in its healthcare system.
Similarly, Lebanon is one of the countries in Middle East whose healthcare system is struggling to meet the needs of its ballooning population. Like Libya, Lebanon’s healthcare system is underfunded partly due to the civil conflict being experienced in the country and due to an economic crisis caused by the conflict. As a result, only 8% percent of the population in Lebanon can access health services in public health facilities (Yadav & Mamilla, 2021). On the other hand, the total expenditure on healthcare in the country as of 2019 was 10.6 % of its GDP. As a result of the conflict being experienced in the country, the government cannot fund its healthcare sufficiently. Chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension are the leading causes of death in Lebanon (Hlávka, 2020). If the country could afford to adopt Artificial Intelligence into its healthcare system, these deaths could be reduced (Ahmad & Nabi, 2021). Most of the deaths are caused by patients with the pre-existing conditions lacking access to medication and treatment to suppress the effects of these conditions and prevent avoidable deaths. Unfortunately, due to the economic situation in the country, the healthcare system cannot afford to use AI tools to provide care to its population (Yadav & Mamilla, 2021). Besides there is limited workforce to provide health services in health institutions in the country. Artificial Intelligence tools could have been used to substitute the human labor had the country’s economy been stable and if the country could afford to fund AI projects in its healthcare system.
In a nutshell, it is evident that Artificial Intelligence has diverse impacts on both healthcare and the economy of a country. While it enables the provision of better healthcare services, it could be costly to adopt and maintain especially in less developed and developing countries. However, for developed countries such as the United States, Artificial Intelligence can be successful in not only aiding the country improve health outcomes but also develop its economy through export of health services.
References
Ahmad, L., & Nabi, F. (2021). Social and economic impacts. Agriculture 5.0: Artificial Intelligence, IoT, and Machine Learning, 205-213. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003125433-10Dutt, R. (2020). The impact of artificial intelligence on healthcare insurances. Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, 271-293. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-818438-7.00011-3Hlávka, J. P. (2020). Security, privacy, and information-sharing aspects of healthcare artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, 235-270. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-818438-7.00010-1Yadav, A. K., & Mamilla, R. (2021). Artificial intelligence in healthcare. Artificial Intelligence and Global Society, 95-101. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003006602-9Zhang, Z. (2018). Utilization of electronic healthcare records for advancement of medical knowledge. Journal of Medical Artificial Intelligence, 1, 1-1. https://doi.org/10.21037/jmai.2018.08.01
