Four Ways to Improve the Patient Experience with AI

The healthcare sector is constantly evolving due to rapid innovation and technological advancements. In the past 20 years, the shift to the cloud and the significant progress in utilizing big data has allowed the development of AI-enabled solutions that can greatly transform both clinical and non-clinical aspects of healthcare.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have been recurring topics in my recent discussions with industry colleagues. I am confident that AI-ML-enabled solutions will have a pivotal role in revolutionizing healthcare in the Middle East. The Department of Health was the first entity in the region to develop an AI policy a few years ago, endorsing the development and utilization of AI technologies and software in Abu Dhabi while prioritizing patient safety.

AI has limitless applications in healthcare, including predictive analytics, informed decision-making, precision medicine, early disease detection, chronic care management, and remote patient monitoring. In this article, we will discuss four key ways in which AI-enabled solutions can help improve patient experiences and drive patient-centered care and outcomes.

1. Enhanced Decision-Making and Insights for Preventive Care Management

As the shift towards preventive care, timely disease detection, and precise diagnoses accelerates, predictive analytics is widely deployed to support informed clinical decision-making and provide high-quality healthcare. AI-ML-enabled technologies enable unparalleled abilities to analyze extensive patient data, including medical records, lab results, and imaging studies. This facilitates better pattern recognition and more accurate predictions.

In a notable move, the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi and Malaffi effectively use AI to predict patients' future risk of disease in Abu Dhabi. The Malaffi Patient Risk Profile displays risk scores for each patient, allowing clinicians to make informed decisions and timely interventions, which aim to manage and prevent the development of potential diseases or hospital admissions for individuals. As a result, the quality of healthcare improves, and the transition to Value-Based Care for the residents of Abu Dhabi occurs. In another key move, the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) launched the region's first Centre of Excellence (COE) for AI in the health sector. This COE assists with data analysis and security control, improves the needs-based distribution of medicines, and increases the efficiency of diagnoses to improve the overall well-being and quality of life for the people of UAE.

Aligned with the leadership vision of the UAE to harness the power of technological innovations, these initiatives mainly aim to employ big data for predictive analysis and enhance decision-making effectiveness to improve the overall well-being of the population.

2. Enhancing Personalized Care Delivery

Healthcare organizations are rapidly shifting from a 'one size fits all' approach to considering the differing needs of patients. People are becoming more involved in the process of how their health concerns are treated, and the aim is to improve their overall quality of life. For instance, consider Akbar, an 82-year-old cancer patient, and Momina, a 23-year-old cancer patient. Although the diagnosis is the same, the treatment for both patients would differ and have to be personalized depending on their demographics, medical history, and preferences.

The Health Sector Transformation Plan under Vision 2030 prioritizes the well-being of people through personalization, digitization, and a massive restructuring of the healthcare ecosystem. In a new move, the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi, M42, and AbbVie recently announced their strategic partnership to advance personalized medicine and genomics to realize personalized healthcare.

Healthcare organizations are quickly embracing this shift towards personalized care by utilizing specialized Artificial Intelligence tools. These tools can augment the care provided for complex diseases, ushering in a new era of intelligent healthcare solutions. Recently, Innovaccer launched its AI suite of Solutions, Sara for Healthcare, which enables care organizations to leverage the power of AI/ML. This helps health systems improve patient outcomes, strengthen financial performance, and improve the engagement of providers and consumers.

3. Streamlining Healthcare Operations

AI-powered advancements in healthcare are revolutionizing the patient experience and outcomes by automating administrative tasks and processing vast amounts of medical data from various sources. These sources include clinics, hospitals, insurers/payers, regulators, policymakers, providers, data aggregators, and consumers. This automation enables stakeholders in the care ecosystem to focus on what matters most - the patients.

The integration of AI-powered chatbots with virtual assistants is crucial for streamlining healthcare operations. These tools not only have the ability to multitask but also handle a range of tasks, such as scheduling appointments, answering basic medical queries, and providing 24/7 access to healthcare information. This seamless patient engagement ultimately enhances healthcare delivery and patient satisfaction.

An excellent example of technology's potential in healthcare is Innovaccer's Sara, the industry's first self-serve conversational AI assistant. Sara showcases the fusion of healthcare and AI, setting a new benchmark for healthcare delivery and management. It simplifies the generation of complex analytic insights, making the process as easy as searching a question on Google. This user-friendly approach allows business leaders, policymakers, physicians, and care teams to obtain accurate responses to population health queries.

4. Seamless Remote Patient Care

The emergence of wearable devices and remote monitoring technologies has revolutionized the continuous tracking of patient health data and has created a need for real-time data unification. Advanced AI algorithms are utilized to analyze the real-time data and promptly alert healthcare providers of any irregularities. Companies such as Manzil Health Care Services are showcasing the transformative potential of telehealth, tele-education, and telemonitoring, reshaping the healthcare landscape in Saudi Arabia.

Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) enables early intervention, reducing hospital readmissions and empowering patients to actively manage their health. This has the potential to improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. However, health systems often face challenges in consolidating data from hardware devices into AI-powered SaaS applications. A robust suite of solutions is needed to integrate data from remote monitoring devices with Electronic Health Records (EHRs), thereby ensuring quicker access to high-quality data for timely interventions.

When adopting AI-enabled solutions, it is crucial to consider that the quality of the data being fed to them heavily impacts their effectiveness. Healthcare organizations must implement unified health data platforms to enhance data management practices, standardize data formats, automate data collection, integrate diverse information systems, and prioritize data privacy and protection. For more information on how high-quality data can drive innovation and patient-centered care, read our white paper, "Six Reasons Why Middle Eastern Healthcare Organizations Need a Robust Data Management Platform."

If you're considering adopting unified data management platforms or leveraging AI solutions for patient-centric outcomes, book a personalized demo with our healthcare experts to get answers to all your questions and unlock the transformative power of AI.