Professor Jonathan Patrick (Telfer School) raised an important question: analytics is used successfully in a number of industries, so why hasn’t healthcare fully embraced it? Applying analytics to healthcare is not the same as creating a program that replaces one of the chess players. He explained that decision making in healthcare involves far more complex and unpredictable strategies than finding ways to ‘checkmate the king’. Analytical models can support healthcare in improving services, but they do not and should not replace decision-making.
Professor Wojtek Michalowski (Telfer School) tried to debunk some myths about AI in healthcare. He pointed out that AI is not new phenomenon. The first applications of AI in healthcare actually date back to the late 1970s. The current popularity of AI in the media has led many to believe that AI-based systems can be easily installed and managed, which is far from being true. AI methods require a lot of customization and careful organization.
The takeaway of this Telfer Forum is an important message for health organizations: analytics and AI will continue advancing how health services are delivered, but health organizations should err on the side of caution. There are major opportunities so that AI-driven solutions can become a “cure” for many of the challenges that health organizations currently face. However, if health providers, researchers, and the industry don’t work together to implement these technologies as part of larger digital health strategy, these opportunities might turn into a “curse.”