Health is a fundamental aspect of life, yet it often receives less attention than it deserves. While many individuals diligently manage their finances, the same level of focus is not always directed towards their health. This disparity highlights the critical need for evolving healthcare practices, particularly in the realm of data management.
The current healthcare system heavily relies on Medical Health Records (MHR), typically controlled by institutions and not readily shared. However, a paradigm shift towards Personalized Health Records (PHR), owned and managed by individuals, offers a promising new approach. This shift paves the way for AI to play a transformative role in supporting more integrated healthcare, where data seamlessly flows across various processes, including personal well-being, professional practice management, and clinical life cycle management.
AI possesses the potential to significantly enhance numerous aspects of healthcare. In personal well-being, AI can analyze data from medical devices, wearables, and sensors, providing individuals with valuable insights into their health status and trends. In professional practice management, AI can effectively pair healthcare professionals with patients based on their preferences and needs, fostering more precise and personalized collaborations. Moreover, AI can streamline clinical life cycles, improving diagnostics and treatment efficiency by leveraging comprehensive patient histories and predictive analytics.
Beyond clinical applications, AI can also revolutionize administrative management. AI-powered systems can help organize and coordinate medical work, workforce, and workplaces, ensuring smoother transitions from admission to discharge. Additionally, AI can assist in revenue cycle management, optimizing costs, insurance, and claims processes for greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the paramount importance of effective disease management, where AI can play a crucial role in early detection and localized treatments. AI also holds immense promise in drug discovery and genomic management by enabling seamless collaboration across diverse healthcare processes, fostering research advancements in disease investigation and treatment development. The recent adoption of the ICD-11 classification system by the World Health Organisation is expected to further enhance health data analysis, leading to improved healthcare solutions.
Hospital-acquired conditions remain a significant concern in healthcare. AI-supported personalized healthcare offers a potential solution by reducing the need for hospitalization through the promotion of home-based care, empowering individuals to manage their health more effectively in familiar and comfortable settings.