The EIT Health Think Tank report makes recommendations for integrating AI in healthcare and sees the EIT role in facilitating transparency and cooperation.
European health care systems are under strain; the populations are growing and at the same time living longer, calling for a structural and transformational change to guarantee universal care and remain sustainable. The current COVID-19 pandemic has exposed weaknesses even more, showing shortages of staff and challenges with sharing and using data successfully for the benefits of patients. A new report “Healthcare Workforce and Organisational Transformation with AI – Enacting Change”, published by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology’s (EIT) Health Think Tank on 20 April, outlines the urgent need for a post-pandemic technological revolution to prevent EU health systems from struggling over the coming years.
The report builds on a series of roundtables, which explored the topic ‘Healthcare Workforce and Organisational Transformation with AI’, and identifies a series of issues to be addressed at EU and national level. The overall goal outlined is to maximise the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technology in healthcare. It has been shown in an earlier report from EIT Health in collaboration with McKinsey & Company already that AI has the potential to benefit healthcare systems. Automation could help alleviate workforce shortages, accelerate research and development of life-saving treatments and reduce the time spent on administrative tasks, ultimately allowing healthcare workers to spend more time directly with the patient.
In order to reap the full benefits of AI however, the existing healthcare systems will need to undergo a significant structural change. The current fragmented approach in AI uptake by countries and regions as well as the industry itself is hindering progress. Moreover, in order to apply AI solutions, healthcare workers will need substantial upskilling and reskilling. The EIT Health Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) sees its own role there in supporting institutions to adapt, in facilitating transparency and collaboration between innovators and practitioners for the successful scaling of AI in healthcare, and in engaging policy makers.
In its report, the EIT Health Think Tank distinguishes between two levels of action, Member States and the EU. At the first level, the report recommends to improve interdisciplinary collaboration and exchange of best practice in Europe in general, building on existing networks and infrastructures to support AI integration. It focuses on driving initiatives to improve education and skills to ensure that all stakeholders have the necessary competencies to handle current and future opportunities, acknowledging awareness-raising campaigns by the European Commission (EC) and Member States in the ‘Coordinated Plan on AI’ and efforts of the upcoming Digital Europe Programme (DEP) in supporting advanced digital skills. Finally, it also suggests developing value-based financial models that incorporate AI and acknowledge a possible long-term cost-saving. On the second and more general EU policy level, the EIT report calls for a more robust data infrastructure for Europe, which will allow the sharing of data and the tracking of diseases to progress to faster diagnosis and the development of AI-based solutions. Such infrastructure should come with more guidance on data management and governance as well as with guidance on regulation and risk assessment for AI solutions. A first step into this direction has of course now been made with the EC’s proposal for an AI Regulation (see SwissCore article).
(Picture Copyright: Daxue Consulting)