Healthcare Leaders Worldwide Counting on AI To Close ‘Critical Gaps’ in Patient Care

Healthcare leaders worldwide are increasingly relying on AI to address critical gaps in patient care. According to the Philips Future Health Index report for 2024, a significant 85% of 2,800 healthcare leaders surveyed from 14 countries are either currently investing in generative AI or planning to do so within the next three years.

This report, commissioned by Philips and conducted by the market research firm GemSeek, involved surveying and interviewing around 200 healthcare leaders from countries including Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Released on June 18, the report dedicates a section to data and AI.

The authors highlight a major challenge: despite having abundant data, healthcare organizations struggle to derive actionable insights. This “insights gap” could hinder the delivery of evidence-based care, which is crucial in today’s healthcare landscape.

Key findings from the report include:

1. Time Lost on Data Integration: Healthcare professionals often face difficulties in accessing and integrating patient data from various sources. A striking 94% of healthcare leaders acknowledge that their organizations face data integration challenges, leading to significant time loss as staff spend precious time consolidating patient data. This inefficiency impacts patient care, increases operational costs, and elevates the risk of errors.
2. Improving Patient Care Through Data: There is a consensus among healthcare leaders on the potential of data to enhance patient care. By effectively integrating data from diverse sources, they believe it is possible to optimize treatment plans, identify best practices, and reduce waiting times for diagnostic and elective procedures. However, achieving these benefits requires addressing foundational issues such as improving data accuracy, ensuring interoperability, and enhancing data security and privacy.
3. AI Implementation Across Settings: AI is already being used in various hospital settings for clinical decision support, including patient monitoring, medication management, treatment planning, radiology, and preventive care. In the next three years, there will be a growing focus on applying AI to remote patient monitoring as care expands beyond hospital walls.
4. Rising Adoption of Generative AI: The adoption of generative AI in healthcare is set to increase significantly. Currently, 29% of healthcare leaders are investing in generative AI, with an additional 56% planning to do so within the next three years. However, there are notable differences between countries in the speed of AI adoption.
5. Ensuring Responsible AI Use: While there is considerable enthusiasm about AI’s potential, healthcare leaders also recognize the need for responsible implementation to avoid negative consequences. Concerns about data bias and its potential to exacerbate health disparities are prevalent, with 87% of leaders expressing this worry. To mitigate these risks, they emphasize the importance of making AI transparent and interpretable, providing ongoing AI training for healthcare professionals, and establishing policies for ethical data and AI use through cross-sector collaboration.

In summary, the Philips Future Health Index report indicates a strong commitment among global healthcare leaders to harnessing AI to close critical gaps in patient care, while also highlighting the need for responsible and ethical AI deployment.