The Role Of AI In Democratizing Healthcare: From Diagnosis To Access

[ThatRobGuy]

Council Post: The Role Of AI In Democratizing Healthcare: From Diagnosis To Access

Ultimately, the promise of AI in healthcare lies not just in its capabilities but in our ability to wield its potential responsibly for the betterment of human health.

www.forbes.com

This precision-driven approach could significantly reduce the margin of error in diagnosis, leading to earlier and more effective treatments.

I believe we must also consider how to use AI technology to spread affordability and access to healthcare to populations typically left out in the cold. Provider shortages and hospital closures are on the rise, and while this affects all Americans, it doesn't affect us all equally. If you have wealth, live in an urban or suburban area and have a certain level of health literacy, you can typically find alternatives.


While I think the AI approach has some serious promise in the nearer future with regards to certain types of diagnostics (like imaging and lab work), I think it still has a ways to go before it's ready to be thrown into the mix as potential solution to what are called "healthcare deserts".

With regards to those healthcare deserts (which have been a problem for a while), instead of waiting on AI to get to where it needs to be to service some of that gap, I think a better short term approach would be to implement what I would call some "targeted deregulation".

What I mean by that, is that for areas that have these issues, allow Nurse Practitioners and PA-C's to operate autonomously in a Family Medicine environment (which is 80% of all patient encounters) instead of requiring that practice be staffed with an MD or DO to "supervise". I think that NPs and PA-C's are more than capable of handling most of the Family Medicine needs for the common ailments/check-ups that most people would go to a family practice for.

In fact, in a lot of Family Practices, the supervising MD's are already delegating that work to NPs/PAs anyway, and just rubber-stamping it.