We’ve all called the doctors office, got sent to a random robot, and got frustrated and gave up. We spend countless minutes of our life just simply trying to get an appointment or get our insurance figured out because the logistics are insane. It seems overwhelming and too much going on that it can be concerning. If we could fix this, that would be awesome, right?
Well, it seems like we may be heading there through artificial intelligence. Many of these logistical nightmares could be fixed by integrating AI into the system, helping things move much more efficiently and faster than humans can do. But how ingrained will AI be in healthcare? How would you feel if you showed up to a doctor’s office or hospital and many things were automated? It would definitely be weird at first, but what if it improves many issues in our healthcare system? It seems like something we should definitely look at, considering the vast amount of issues in the US healthcare system. But how much is too much to where it can be detrimental? I don’t know if I could show up to get surgery, and see that the “surgeon” performing on me is actually a robot. That wouldn’t feel right. But at the same time, I think about the precision that a robot could have vs a human who has natural physical movement or thoughts which could lead to a simple human error. So where’s the right balance?
I think our main priority in using AI in healthcare should be to improve overall efficiency. If we can use it to lower overall costs for healthcare because it’s much more efficient, this can have a life-changing impact and allow more people to have healthcare. My dad is a general surgeon, and I've had many conversations with him about this. He is very involved with robotics in surgery and healthcare in general, and he has seen the abilities that it has. They use robots in surgery to help eliminate the need for more people which can lead to potentially more issues. He hasn’t seen it taking away people’s jobs and it’s only improved healthcare from what he has done. However, he knows that the possibilities are endless, and it can be utilized in many different facets of healthcare.
I’m not any kind of conspiracy theorist, but I do wonder if some people don’t want to help improve healthcare to hopefully make it more affordable. The healthcare industry makes tons of money, and so do the insurance companies that people have to pay for to have healthcare. But if using AI to help healthcare could improve costs, would some people at the top not want that? That would in turn mean potentially less profits for the big companies, and some people only care about their own profit. Considering the serious issues in our healthcare system, it seems like people at the top haven’t been urgent in helping reform it. When people’s profits are at stake, it seems like things get shady. Like I said, I am no conspiracy theorist, but it does seem there could be some conflicts of interest. We’ll dive deeper into these things in further blogs… stay tuned.
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