A national consumer survey of 2,000 Americans found that 75% of respondents say they're "very" worried about the financial impact of a health emergency. But 48% were optimistic about healthcare AI's potential to improve healthcare's accuracy, efficiency and outcomes.

WHY IT MATTERS

Americans are "quickly waking up to the potential of AI to transform healthcare, with 48% of people already identifying themselves as optimistic about AI-driven outcomes," Max Votek, cofounder of Customertimes, the digital consultancy that sponsored the survey, in a statement.

One in four of those polled believe AI will make treatment cheaper, the survey shows, with 56% hopeful that AI-designed drugs will lead to healthcare cost reductions, Customertimes said in its announcement. 

The consultant said the national survey study revealed that:

• Americans are optimistic about the potential for AI to transform healthcare.
• Americans expect AI to improve diagnostic efficiency, make healthcare more efficient and improve patient outcomes.
• Two in three Americans believe that AI will be better than humans at diagnosing medical conditions.
• Americans do not expect AI to replace doctors and physicians, but to make their lives easier.

The researchers also learned that 62% think that AI will outperform humans at diagnosing and treating conditions, with one in seven believing the technology will save healthcare industry jobs.

Of note, the company also said that one in four are optimistic about AI drug development and 40% believe AI can effectively predict the effects of treatment.

THE LARGER TREND

Americans may be optimistic about using AI and other technologies to improve healthcare delivery and lower soaring costs, but there's been a surge of AI investment since ChatGPT launched in November 2022 that is leading some to say, Show me the money. 

The Customertimes survey comes on the heels of a new warning from Mike Wilson, Morgan Stanley's chief investment officer, that AI companies need to start showing investors revenues and earnings.

"I see AI everywhere, except in the numbers," he said in a recap of an Opening Bid podcast.

The healthcare ecosystem has seen its fair share of successful AI implementations that boast favorable metrics. 

Nurses at OhioHealth feel "empowered" after the health system integrated an early-discharge-planning platform that leverages artificial intelligence to reduce their discharge administrative burdens and shorten patient stays, Jean Halpin, chief operating officer at Grant Medical Center, told Healthcare IT News Monday in a Q&A.

Mudit Garg, CEO of Qventus, which developed the EDP software, added that OhioHealth as forecast to care for an additional 3,500 patients, and reap a $500,000 operational cost savings, in the first year after the first 30 days of use showed a 1,400-day reduction in excess stays for patients.

There's also the government-driven expectation for heavy-handed oversight of what U.S. Health and Human Services calls decision-support interventions.

HHS refused to push back healthIT certification requirements for predictive DSI algorithms, and health IT developers must employ risk analysis and risk mitigations related to validity, reliability, robustness, fairness, intelligibility, safety, security and privacy by the end of the month, the Office of the National Coordinator for Healthcare Technology said, when it inked its health IT certification rule in December. 

Health IT modules certified after August 31 will have until December 2025 to include the DSI criterion in their real-world testing plans, according to the agency's key dates fact sheet.

The use of AI to deny medical payments or care, and accusations of racial bias in healthcare AI, have also resulted in lawsuits, however. Humana and others have been sued for allegedly using inaccurate AI for Medicare Advantage denials. 

ON THE RECORD

"AI appointment scheduling software that reduces wait times and AI medical imaging that delivers near-instant diagnoses are no longer the work of science fiction," Votek said in a statement. 

"The technology is here, and we're already seeing the benefits of AI in hospitals and surgeries. Given the sector is in such ill health, it's welcomed news that the American public is already on board with AI's transformative potential."

Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.

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