Snapshot
- AI systems can bridge the gap between healthcare institutions and community resources.
- Continuous health monitoring and AI-led interventions can improve chronic disease management.
- AI tools can alleviate clinicians’ administrative burdens, enhancing patient interactions.
- Addressing reimbursement and affordability is crucial for ensuring access to care.
Overview
Despite being a global leader in the management of complex diseases, we find ourselves grappling with healthcare deserts—areas lacking in essential services like food, maternal healthcare, and mental health resources. Coupled with a rise in preventable chronic conditions like diabetes, these challenges underscore the need for a community-embedded healthcare approach.
Healthcare doesn’t exist in isolation—it thrives in the communities we live in. To effectively manage these challenges, we need to weave healthcare systems into the fabric of our communities. This is where artificial intelligence (AI) can play a pivotal role. AI systems can act as a bridge, connecting healthcare institutions with community resources like food banks, mental health centers, and public school systems. This enables us to address social determinants of health effectively and on a larger scale.
Preventive care should be our focus—people’s lives and their health markers continue between doctor’s visits. With the help of implantable devices, wearables, or iPhones, we can transmit patient data 24/7. AI can then analyze this data using disease-specific care protocols, allowing for timely interventions.
As we continue to shift from inpatient to outpatient care, we need to leverage the potential of home-based care provided by nurses and technicians. Voice recognition software and other AI tools can alleviate paperwork burdens, giving clinicians more time for meaningful patient interactions. This, in turn, enhances the patient-provider relationship, fostering trust and improving care outcomes.
Yet, to fully realize this vision, the reimbursement system must be addressed. Despite efforts toward value-based care, we have yet to see a substantial breakthrough. Affordability is crucial—with no affordability, there is no access.
Many of these solutions have been discussed and implemented sporadically, but not consistently or widely enough. In closing, I dream of a time when population health and precision medicine converge, resulting in a comprehensive healthcare system that serves all with the care they deserve.
