Lavanya Rangarajan
Health Policy Manager, Policy Connect
Dr Simon Opher
MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Health Group
The rate at which artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming embedded across healthcare has accelerated, with patients experiencing this in various ways.
The use of AI-assisted triage systems at their local surgery is obvious, but many scanning, diagnostics and administrative tasks are now routinely supported by machine learning systems. The time and cash benefits are clear.
Benefits and concerns of AI in healthcare
Used responsibly, the appeal of technologies that speed up diagnosis, reduce paperwork and free up resources to improve frontline care is compelling.
The scale makes both the prizes — and risks — enormous. The most commonly expressed concerns are around the ethical risk, data bias and data security. Furthermore, sensitive patient data could be mishandled or exploited without clear safeguards.
Healthcare beyond algorithms
Yet, policymakers must also consider the effect of digital transformation in healthcare on people. AI may have the effect of de-skilling the workforce while giving the impression that it does the opposite. Practitioners feel confident about the data they have and the conclusions they are led towards, while the technology is actually encouraging them to suspend their critical thinking. An AI ‘fact’ is a very compelling thing.
It is vital that politicians and policymakers
keep the reality of the lived experience of
patients at the heart of healthcare practices.
We run the risk of focusing on data at the expense of the lived experience of patients in our care. Doctors, and especially GPs, use a very wide range of cues and information in diagnosing and treating patients. Not only the symptoms presented and test results matter, but also how the patient looks, talks, holds themselves, their history, their family, where they live and work, their relationships, even the weather and the journey to the surgery. The factors are infinite.
Policies must focus on patients
There must also be concerns that we are simply asking too much of most patients in expecting them to use a kit reliant on AI to monitor and treat themselves at home after discharge. Further, it increases the isolation that has become such a prevalent hallmark of UK society today. The Government (rightly) aims to make the NHS more sustainable and patient-focused. However, it is vital that politicians and policymakers keep the reality of the lived experience of patients at the heart of healthcare practices. Enthusiasm for innovation should not override regulation, strong ethical standards, independent oversight and patient involvement in decision-making. The prize is appealing, yet the costs (and profits) are eyewatering. Policymakers must tread very carefully.
