By Jay Juffre
I was recently talking to a lawyer friend of mine. He was lamenting the fact that Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be a game changer for his entire industry. The ability for an AI program to pour through limitless volumes of case law and then develop a coherent, well thought out, legal strategy from the data in milliseconds would concern anyone in the legal profession (we are basically there now). Fast forward 10-15 years (or sooner) and given the opportunity to have a human being or a less expensive “all-knowing” AI robot represent you in court, which one would you go with? So how does this inevitably affect healthcare and overall patient care? It’s anyone’s guess but if I had to wager, I believe AI will be a very good thing if utilized properly. Most of us have heard the story (and I wrote about it here) about the robot doctor out west telling a patient they did not have long to live. Advanced AI used in this manner would be a disaster. However, if AI can lead to getting more information into the doctor and medical professionals’ hands quicker, if it can improve the accuracy of pinpointing a diagnosis, if it can create more face time with patients, and heck if it can make WebMD more accurate, we may be on to something. With any new technology comes the question, how will society best utilize it? We can already predict that some health systems will look to use it to reduce human interaction with patients and their families. This would be a big mistake. Instead look for ways to utilize AI and other new technology to make things better for the patient, their families, your staff, and the community. If we can crack that code, Artificial Intelligence just might be the medical breakthrough we have been waiting for.
Jay Juffre is Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff, ImageFIRST. For more information on ImageFIRST, call 1-800-932-7472 or visit www.imagefirst.com.
