AI Shifts Into the Next (Generative) Gear in Healthcare

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been transforming health and medicine for several decades, whether through diagnostics, personalized medicine, data analytics or other innovations. The advent of generative AI is now reshaping drug discovery, diagnostics, clinical decisions and delivery of care.

Traditional healthcare companies — whether healthcare providers, payers, technology partners or pharmaceutical companies — recognize generative AI’s potential. That potential can manifest in the form of faster drug discovery, more accurate diagnostic tools, improved clinical care and patient services, and so on. Each stakeholder is seeking ways to use the technology to their advantage. Medical professionals, patients and regulators are reacting to this new reality, pondering its implications — both promising and troubling — as well as yet-unanswered ethical questions.

Health tech and Big Tech join forces on generative AI solutions.

Today, traditional health IT and health-tech companies are partnering with tech giants such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta to bring their generative AI solutions to life. Leading health IT provider Epic’s partnership with Microsoft to integrate generative AI into its electronic health record (EHR) software is a notable example.

The takeaway for both industry stakeholders and generative AI users is to watch investor actions. Sustained investor interest will drive the development of stronger, more effective use cases and lead to the emergence of numerous industry- specific generative AI applications in the years ahead. This trend mirrors the introduction of new technologies in previous decades.

Startups set the stage for generative AI in healthcare.

The generative AI market for healthcare is valued at more than $1 billion as of 2022, and it is projected to swell to almost $22 billion by 2032. Technology giants along with venture capitalists and private equity investors will play a significant role in that market as investors, partners and innovators.

These investments stand to benefit tech startups like Abridge, which is working to integrate its generative AI medical note-taking tool with Epic, a move that promises to streamline clinical workflows. Similarly, startup company Basys.ai secured $2.4 million in seed funding to advance its prior authorization tool, which leverages generative AI and deep learning to expedite the insurance preapproval process for medical procedures.

Doctors and patients must have a say in shaping generative AI’s role in clinical settings.

For every claim of generative AI’s promise made by technology developers, there is often a fear of the unknown held by nearly everyone else, from medical professionals and patients to government officials.

Medical professionals can play a crucial role in demystifying that unknown, especially for their patients. As the experts in care, they have earned patients’ trust through decades of experience and will be responsible for using generative AI in the clinical setting.

Patients also must be part of the equation because, after all, it is their health that is at stake. Their fears, comfort levels, trust and consent are factors in determining whether and to what extent generative AI should be involved in their treatment.