The time has come to democratize AI and empower better health outcomes

By Elena Bonfiglioli, General Manager, WW Healthcare, Global Pharma and Life Sciences, Microsoft

February 16, 2017

Tags
AI

The goal of empowering every person and every organization with better health outcomes requires a bold move: making systems of intelligence accessible to all. This is what we call “democratizing AI” in health. It means allowing anyone and everyone to build the AI systems they need to provide better clinical and operational effectiveness. Microsoft, together with over 20 health technology vendors, has embraced this vision and joined forces in the “AI in Health Partners Alliance.” It is a bold collaborative effort that was launched at the Microsoft Health Innovation Summit in Brussels. There, I had the honor to host more than 250 health leaders and share the innovative experiences of health digital transformation powered by the trusted cloud. This included new Virtual Health solutions from partners like Cambio, Careflow and others that empower patients and care teams.

The goals of the Alliance are to drive broad public awareness of how AI can empower better clinical and operational outcomes and to help ensure everyone has the competencies and the tools they need to build intelligence into health solutions and bring them to market. Alliance partners are also committed to advancing policy conversation around the use of health data in AI scenarios— and helping frame the debate on ethical considerations that these new technologies will bring about.

Thanks to the application of AI, health professionals will do a quantum leap in the journey towards value-based health care. They may increase the rate of discharge combined with lower re-admissions. They may succeed in keeping patients out of hospitals, in helping early diagnosis of patients with rare diseases and in supporting citizens with epilepsy or chronic conditions to live normal lives being monitored from their living-room instead of having to wait for hours in the emergency room. They can also succeed in triaging patients more effectively thanks to the support of health bots, and in supporting patients through companion coach bots post-surgery or through their treatment to enhance adherence. AI can identify fraudulent processes and claims that impose waste and cost to the system, or empower doctors to better prepare surgeries or get ready for complex radiotherapy treatments.

And this is just the beginning…These and many more scenarios are unfolding in front of our eyes, often being co-designed with health professionals, thinking about better outcomes and having the patient in the center.

And these AI Health solutions are available today, they are not a far off to be proven mirage.

Here are just a couple examples available today and you can discover more solution references at “Democratizing AI in Health:”

Microsoft health bot and AI technology powered by Capita Healthcare Decisions uses market-leading clinical triage content to help empower individuals to check their own healthcare symptoms online, directs patients to the right level of care the first time, and connects health professionals to one main integrated clinical hub that combines decision management and healthcare services.

By leveraging systems of intelligence in the Meliora platform, 400 neonatologists from 52 Portuguese UCIN’s (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) will be able to better understand, predict and prevent the spread and causality of Very Low Weight Newborns and the impact of premature babies and newborn morbidity and mortality. This work supports Microsoft and Prologica’s commitment to support the Sustainable Development Goals and the targets on SDG 3 around maternal health.

Besides empowering better health, AI will also stimulate economies. Start-ups and innovative, established companies working on AI in health will benefit from an exponential compound annual growth rate of 42 percent year-over-year by 2021, delivering higher value jobs and local economic development¹.

By democratizing AI, we will see a new era emerge. Communities will grow and develop to realize both the health and economic benefits of this exciting technology. On the way, there will be questions and we are here to reflect, learn, innovate and iterate together. That’s what the AI in Health Partners Alliance is all about.

Learn more and get involved in democratizing AI in health for the greater good. Read the Official Microsoft Blog for more information on this exciting partnership.