Can AI help healthcare move from treatment to prevention?
AI could help identify people at risk of developing certain conditions before they become ill, allowing healthcare providers to intervene earlier. But technology alone will not deliver that change.
Europe's aging population is placing increasing strain on healthcare systems already grappling with efficiency challenges. Artificial intelligence could serve as a potential solution by shifting focus from reactive treatment to proactive prevention. However, as Ricardo Baptista Leite, CEO of HealthAI, emphasizes, technology alone is insufficient. "If you retrofit AI into an inefficient system, it just makes you very efficient at being inefficient," Baptista Leite warns, stressing the need for a comprehensive approach.
For AI to effectively shift healthcare from treatment to prevention, the financial incentives within healthcare systems must change. Currently, hospitals are incentivized to treat patients rather than maintain their health. To foster a preventative model, new funding mechanisms that reward early intervention and proactive monitoring must be implemented.
AI can play a crucial role in identifying individuals at risk of developing certain conditions before symptoms emerge, enabling healthcare providers to intervene earlier and potentially prevent deterioration. By analyzing health data alongside social factors that influence health, AI can pinpoint those who may require assistance before their condition worsens, aiming to prevent conditions from occurring in the first place.
However, the successful implementation of AI in healthcare also hinges on trust. Patients and healthcare professionals need assurance that the technology is safe and that its benefits outweigh potential risks. This requires ongoing oversight beyond the initial approval and integration of AI systems into clinical practice. The World Health Organization's Europe chief, Hans Henri P. Kluge, has expressed concerns about the uneven governance of AI across countries.
While AI is being deployed in European hospitals, only a limited number of countries have established governance strategies, putting patient safety at risk.
With two-thirds of the 53 WHO Europe countries already using AI diagnostics and half having AI-powered patient chatbots, the lack of comprehensive governance is troubling. "Only one in 12 countries have strategies for how to govern AI," Kluge points out, highlighting the concern that this situation can erode public trust in health systems and impact overall public health.
To mitigate potential harm and ensure public safety, HealthAI is collaborating with regulators in 10 countries to develop a global early warning system designed to identify adverse events, share information about emerging risks, and keep citizens protected.
Written by urgent.news from Euronews's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
