Is AI Making Healthcare More Human?

5 Questions with: Claire Bloomfield, CEO of the UK’s National Consortium of Intelligent Medical Imaging (NCIMI) on The AI Effect, new research in MIT Technology Review 

When we set out, in partnership with MIT Technology Review Insights, to ask more than 900 healthcare professionals about their experience with AI, a guiding question was: “how is AI is impacting you?” Not “how will it impact you?” Not “how could it impact you?” How is it impacting you today, in the here and now?

Much has been predicted and proposed about the effect AI will have on healthcare. But, as I wrote in a preview of our findings, one of the privileges of being part of a global healthcare organization is the opportunity to listen and learn from those on the front lines of this business of keeping and making people healthy. It was clear to us that AI had been implemented widely enough (in at least seven in 10 hospitals according to our new research) that we could start to move from early conjecture to initial conclusions.

According to The AI Effect, our new report launched this week, of those healthcare professionals who are using AI:

• 79% report that AI has helped avert health-care worker burnout
• 75% agree AI has enabled better prediction in the treatment of disease 
• And, for business staff, 30% more of their time is spent attracting new patients 

It’s heartening to see not just that the effect of AI is already here but that this effect may be helping healthcare professionals of all kinds do their jobs the way they’ve always wanted to. It may be giving them the time and tools to build a more efficient and intelligent ecosystem for patient care. 

In short, it may be making healthcare more human.

Certainly, the data makes clear that roadblocks still prevent adoption and a percentage of organisations don’t yet feel the effect, but an interesting point comes from Claire Bloomfield, CEO of Oxford’s National Consortium of Medical Imaging (NCIMI) and one the UK’s foremost experts. I asked for her perspective, among others, on the report’s findings and she noted (below) that in some cases AI may already be sufficiently integrated into devices or workflows that it’s not the AI that’s seen as the solution.  

For those who dedicate their careers to this business of keeping and making people healthy, they deserve for that to be the case, to focus not on the bits inside the machine but on the human it’s helping. Because no matter what external factors shape and remake the industry, our collective goals will always be about offering the most precise, individualized, and compassionate care possible. This isn’t just a business, after all—it’s humanity. 

If you’ve seen the report, what finding most interests or surprises you? 

Here’s what Claire Bloomfield of NCIMI had to say about this and her firsthand insight into enabling AI adoption across a wide network of hospitals in the UK:

You’ve had a broad career in the development of healthcare. What made you want to work with intelligent imaging? 

Claire: I believe we can achieve real impact in supporting digital pathology and clinical imaging transformation, and incorporate AI into different modalities through partnership across the ecosystem- a model that is close to my heart from other programmes I have been involved in. That’s part of our mission in NCIMI and what excites me – we gather data from and test it in the real world to ensure the 15 hospitals and 11.5 million people we work with across the UK can develop robust solutions that will stand up in the real world, and drive improvements for the benefit of patients and the NHS (UK’s National Health Service) as a whole. We’re pleased to receive an element of funding from the UK government via their Innovate UK innovation agency.

One of the AI Effect survey results that was most exciting to see was that many healthcare professionals were already seeing tangible results from AI. Do you see this in the range of institutions you work with?

Claire: In the UK it is still early days, and although we are seeing the deployment of AI ‘behind the scenes’, in uses such as GE’s True Fidelity solution for CT and MRI image reconstruction, for many individuals this is not perceived as part of the ‘AI hype’ about transforming care. This integration is interesting as I think it tells us that AI can and is having impact, but because it has been seamlessly integrated into devices or workflows, they don’t always recognize that it’s the AI that’s creating the impact and rightly don’t see it as a standalone solution. The integration through augmenting existing technology may well be an important trend for the future too.

Findings from The AI Effect report from MIT Technology Review Insights and GE Healthcare

What are some lesser discussed facets of AI that you want to see the industry speaking about?

Claire: I’d like to see more mainstream integration of the discussion of the people components of AI. This sits across training and workforce education; ethics of AI; the patient voice and the governance of activity in this space. We need to co-create solutions that will ensure we have patient trust in developing new technology, as well as ensuring we have a healthcare workforce engaged and able to help develop and use the solutions coming down the line.

Our research shows that AI, rather than overtaking radiologists or other healthcare professionals, is serving to free them up to focus on what matters most to them – patients, or clinical work or new business. What is the ideal harmony between clinicians and AI?

Claire: I think an ideal balance is when AI is doing something that will contribute to the healthcare teams’ practice and add value to what they’re already doing, rather than using AI to replace what they are doing. I hope it will drive new collaboration across care pathways to improve both the workforce and patient experience. AI today is allowing everyone involved in the health-care ecosystem – doctors, nurses, administrators and patients – to benefit from enhanced resource efficiencies and diagnosis. It provides the foundation for more personalized, cost-effective and impactful outcomes. 

Describe the future of healthcare in three words

Claire: Collaborative, connected and compassionate – at least that’s my hope!