The future of artificial intelligence in health care

Artificial intelligence (AI), in varying forms and degrees, has begun to appear in a wide spectrum of technologies, from the phones we use to communicate to the supply chains that bring goods to market. It is transforming the way we interact, consume information, and obtain goods and services. Health care is no exception. In health care, the impact of AI, through natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML), is transforming care delivery. As is the case in other industries, it is expected that these technologies will continue to advance at a rapid pace over the next several years. 

As AI finds its way into everything from our smartphones to the supply chain, applications in health care fall into three broad groupings¹:

• Patient-oriented AI
• Clinician-oriented AI
• Administrative- and operational-oriented AI

The future of AI in health care could include tasks that range from simple to complex—everything from answering the phone to medical record review, population health trending and analytics, therapeutic drug and device design, reading radiology images, making clinical diagnoses and treatment plans, and even talking with patients.

The future of artificial intelligence in health care presents:

• A health care-oriented overview of artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning (ML)
• Current and future applications in health care and the impact on patients, clinicians, and the pharmaceutical industry
• A look at how the future of AI in health care might unfold as these technologies impact the practice of medicine and health care over the next decade
   

From patient self-service to chat bots, computer-aided detection (CAD) systems for diagnosis, and image data analysis to identify candidate molecules in drug discovery, AI is already at work increasing convenience and efficiency, reducing costs and errors, and generally making it easier for more patients to receive the health care they need.

While NLP and ML are already being used in health care, they will become increasingly important for their potential to:

1. Improve provider and clinician productivity and quality of care 
2. Enhance patient engagement in their own care and streamline patient access to care 
3. Accelerate the speed and reduce the cost to develop new pharmaceutical treatments 
4. Personalize medical treatments by leveraging analytics to mine significant, previously untapped stores of non-codified clinical data
    

While each AI technology can contribute significant value alone, the larger potential lies in the synergies generated by using them together across the entire patient journey, from diagnoses, to treatment, to ongoing health maintenance.

Download the full report to explore how current and future applications of these technologies might impact the health care industry.

Innovation starts with insight and seeing challenges in a new way. Amid unprecedented uncertainty and change across the health care industry, stakeholders are looking for new ways to transform the journey of care. Our US Health Care practice helps clients transform uncertainty into possibility and rapid change into lasting progress. Comprehensive audit, advisory, consulting, and tax capabilities can deliver value at every step, from insight to strategy to action. Our people know how to anticipate, collaborate, innovate, and create opportunity from even the unforeseen obstacle.

Learn more at www.deloitte.com/future