Electronic Health Reporter

By Pauline Farris, who speaks Portuguese, English, Spanish and Italian. She is a voting member of the American Translators Association and an active participant of the Leadership Council of its Portuguese Language Division.

Technological advancements always happen so our lives can become a lot easier. We have incorporated technology into every aspect of our lives, from housework to teaching and now even in the health sector. Artificial intelligence has had a great effect on how healthcare works and has helped us take great steps towards making it more efficient and approachable.

Not only does it offer a way to save a lot of time when it comes to treating patients but in general it can help make everyday tasks a lot easier for medical practitioners. There are so many different ways to incorporate AI technology in health and here are some of the reasons why it is so important and useful.

Eliminate waiting time by virtual nursing assistants

One of the biggest complaints in most hospitals and clinics is the fact that patients have to wait so long in order to get checked by a doctor. In the UK, college hospitals in London are starting to introduce AI technologies which will help with taking notes of the patients’ symptoms and prioritizing them based on the severity of their conditions.

A great technology that can truly cut down the wait time for all the patients and make the doctor’s job a lot easier is a new tool called scribes. This great tool works similarly to other tools we already have inside our homes, for example Alexa. If you have ever paid a visit to the doctor, you probably have notices how much time it takes for the doctor to write down all your information and create a record.

This tool simply listens in to your conversation and records everything that is being discussed. At the end of the appointment, the doctor can make it automatically create a record of what has been mentioned in the visit. This can help save a lot of time for both the patient and the doctor.

Another problem is that people who want to book an appointment have to wait a big amount of time in order to actually meet with the doctor. Artificial intelligence can provide the patients with a way to get a better understanding of their condition as well as write down and understand their symptoms and help them cope with their health issue until they can visit the right practitioner.

Making patents’ diagnosis a lot easier

The good thing about AI technologies is that they can store and recall a very large amount of data without any effort. Most doctors work for an extreme amount of hours every week and while they are always prepared to handle any case, some external help could really help them with diagnosing a patient.

The main focus of AI technology in these situations is to provide hospitals with tools which will help make consultations a lot quicker and diagnoses more accurate. These tools will remind the doctors to ask additional questions depending on the patient’s symptoms, order additional tests and even suggest fitted treatment plans which can decrease the healing time and make treatment a lot easier for both the patient and the doctor.

Another great use of AI technology is allowing the patient to explain everything to their doctor, even if English is not their native language. The Word Point medical translations platform suggests that in the future, many medical translators will be asked to help set up automatic translation tools which will be used in the medical field in order to make consultations a lot easier.

The future of surgery

One of the biggest and most important applications or artificial intelligence has to be robot-assisted surgery. Apart from this being an application which will truly help save billions of dollars for the healthcare system on an annual level, it can also help improve the way surgeries are being performed.

Just some of the advantages of this practice have been smaller surgery scars, less pain after the surgery as well as faster recoveries for the patients. It can overall help the patient have a smoother and easier experience and enjoy quicker and less risky procedures.

When it comes to the doctors, they are able to perform more complex and difficult operations with more ease as they do not have to be standing during the entire procedure. On top of that, they get to have a much better and clearer image of the part they are operating on so their capabilities are being enhanced drastically.

Robotic-assisted surgeries are becoming a lot more popular all around the world. In the US alone, more than 67 percent of operations are being done with the help of an AI robot. One of the most common uses of these robots are bariatric surgeries, but nowadays they are being used for a large number of surgeries, from spine ones to heart surgery, all of them being operated easier and with much more precision.

Reducing the possibility of a medication dosage error

Last but not least, another way AI technology can help the medical field is by providing correct information and measurements regarding the treatment of patients. Mistakes regarding a drug or a dosage can happen and that is a reality that occurs daily even at the finest of hospitals. Patients might also be prescribed with different drugs, which could potentially interact dangerously with each other.

A machine that is already being used in order to combat this problem is called the RIVA system. This is designed to help with handling various tasks from making sure the patients are receiving the right drug and dosage, to make sure the medication is sanitized and to fill and syringes needed to be used.

Medication errors are a lot more common than you might think and having the right equipment to help turn this issue around is really important. Mistakes such as small spelling mistakes or even placing a decimal point in the wrong spot can easily be avoided if AI technology is being used. Robots will be able to instantly tell if two medications can be prescribed together and if the person is taking them correctly and on time.

Artificial intelligence robots can help improve the medical field

AI technology has been created in order to help us make our lives easier. The medical field needs any kind of assistance when it comes to treating patients, doing various operations and providing good quality health care services.

The more technology advances, the easier it will be for doctors to provide better quality services to their patients. There are many AI tools which are currently being developed and will soon be used in hospitals worldwide.

Do you believe AI is important in the healthcare system or not?