AI in Healthcare: Advantages and Limitations

Artificial intelligence (AI) is prevalent across various industries. It’s also integrated into the healthcare industry, helping providers and patients. But with the emergence of AI, is it doing more harm than good? We explore AI in healthcare below. Plus, we list AI-powered apps to help you with your health.

Advantages of AI in Healthcare

Automate Administrative Work

Healthcare providers can be swamped with administrative work in one day. That could take precious minutes off their day to help patients. But with AI’s help, they can reduce hours of administrative work and depend on AI to organize notes and data in a few seconds. Additionally, AI can help providers send reminders or notify patients about bills and insurance.

Access to Basic Mental Health Help

Going to therapy can be expensive. Although experts encourage patients to reach out to mental health providers for diagnosis and treatment, some AI chatbots can help patients with their mental health state. For example, if a patient is feeling sad at the moment and want someone to talk to immediately, an AI can follow a CBT-based framework to help the patient with their present emotions.

Analyze Trends and Data

Another benefit of AI in healthcare is helping healthcare providers with insights and data that take time to evaluate. For example, AI can identify possible diagnoses in a couple of minutes, saving patients’ lives sooner. Additionally, data can improve the patient-doctor relationship through communication and monitoring patient health without the need for an immediate consultation.

Limitations of AI in Healthcare

Diagnostic Concerns

Since AI can be trained to organize and analyze data, an AI may provide diagnostic information to patients. However, AI can provide inaccurate diagnostic information, making patients anxious or worried about their health. 

That’s why AI should be trained extensively in this area. Or doctors should review AI’s suggested diagnoses before it reaches the patient. Some experts have said that AI should provide links to where it obtained data to ensure it doesn’t misdiagnose patients.

Data Privacy

One concern about using AI in the healthcare industry is the patients’ private data. 

Strict rules are enforced to ensure that patient data is protected by organizations and compliant software applications. Although AI can be a helpful tool in analyzing patient data, it’s possible that AI could still make mistakes, especially if it’s untrained. It can make an error in showing the wrong patient data to another or analyzing data meant for another patient.

Lack of Empathy

AI can play a big role in patient care, especially in mental health. However, considering AI isn’t human, it will not grasp the idea of emotion. Sure, it could be trained with how emotions work. But it cannot empathize with a human when it’s experiencing emotional distress. It’s important to work in conjunction with a mental health professional to help you tackle your mental health concerns.

AI-assisted or AI-powered Health Apps

Note: All AI-powered apps on this list are safe to use and ensure that your data is secure.

Merative

Formerly IBM Watson Health, Merative is an all-in-one AI solution for hospitals, clinics, and other health institutions. An advantage of using Merative is making better decisions and enhancing the patient experience. Plus, it helps in imaging (radiology and cardiology) to create efficient and scalable workflows.

Even though Merative is ideal for health and government organizations, businesses can benefit from this too. They provide solutions for making better health decisions, such as insurance and health programs, for employees leading to happier and healthier employees.

ADA

If you want a personal AI-powered health app, ADA is one of the best options. What ADA can help you with is understanding and managing your symptoms. The AI suggests conditions based on what the users have submitted. After that, doctors review what the AI suggests. Finally, users learn possible conditions that they can show to their physician.

Babylon Health

If you want an alternative to ADA, you should consider subscribing to Babylon Health. Although their AI focuses on helping their doctors give proper care to patients, you can use Babylon Health to check symptoms too. But with Babylon Health, you can connect to a physician directly and set an appointment. Aside from this, Babylon Health can provide you with health insights.

Buoy

Buoy is another AI symptom health checker. However, Buoy ensures that they’ll be with you every step of the way. They can help you schedule an appointment with a doctor and to monitor your progress. Another thing to note is Buoy is community-based so that you can share your experience with other Buoy users too.

Youper

Youper is the first on our list of AI mental health apps. It’s an all-in-one solution for patients, employers, and mental health providers. The app has served over 2,000,000 patients and improved their patients’ well-being. Additionally, the AI runs on an evidence-based framework for helping patients manage their mental health.

Woebot

Are you not feeling great and just want to talk to someone immediately about what you’re currently feeling? Woebot is another AI mental health chatbot to consider. The Woebot AI will train with you by talking to you and checking in with you. Additionally, the AI provides personalized advice and action-oriented solutions to help you. You can download Woebot on Google Play or App Store.

Florence

If your goal is to become healthier in life, Florence is one of the best AI apps for that purpose. Are you forgetful when drinking your meds? Florence can remind you when to take them. You can also keep track of your health, like your mood, weight, and periods. Finally, you can rely on Florence if you need to buy medication and find a doctor.

Key Takeaways

AI has made significant strides in the healthcare industry. Providers can get more work done and assist more patients with their concerns. Meanwhile, patients can use AI to get suggestions about their concerns or access to basic mental health needs like talk therapy. While AI has impressed patients and providers, it still has a long way to go in providing more accurate data and empathizing with humans to enhance their experience.