Abax Health – Shawn Landin – VP of Operations​​

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Throughout history there have been breakthroughs in technology that drives a public frenzy. From the invention of the lightbulb to the newest smartphone model launch, we feed upon the excitement of the opportunities to use a new product or service to make our personal and professional lives better. Artificial intelligence, or AI, is no different. Consumers, investors, and businesses are eager to be a part of the excitement over AI. Artificial Intelligence is presented as a business solution that will solve all of the world’s problems. But the question arises, will it really solve all of the world’s problems?

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For the healthcare industry, will AI be the solution that will move healthcare into a positive direction (both from an improved clinical outcomes and increased financial perspective) or is it just hype that will increase costs by investing in tools that will ultimately go unused?

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Just like any innovative technology, the answer depends on how the technology is used. Understanding what problems your organization is trying to solve and what data can be used to solve those problem is more important than the tool itself. You can have the best Large Language Models (LLMs) in the world, but if you are not able to train your models to solve for specific problems, the data, and the results the data tells you, remains unusable. Therefore, while AI can be used to solve complex problems, it should be done so through the lens of controlling the scope of what we want it to accomplish.

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There are a growing number of challenges in healthcare. Lack of access, poor health outcomes, lower revenue for health systems and medical groups, and increasing costs can cause a health executive to feel lost on where to begin to improve their organization’s overall performance. AI can be a solution; however, we must ask ourselves what data do we want to use to solve those challenges. “Imagine if” AI could be used to improve the patient experience and health outcomes, increase revenue, improve employee satisfaction, all while reducing costs. Some of the ways AI can be used to improve healthcare access include:

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• Use trending data in EHR systems on A1c levels to capture which levels most likely lead to acute symptoms driving Emergency Department visits. Use this data in AI to create customized, multi-channel patient outreach efforts to schedule these patients with Primary Care, Endocrinology or Diabetes providers only if A1c levels increase towards the specific clinical threshold. Improve patient outcomes.

 

• Use AI to find which inpatient admissions lead to the most readmissions and prompt patient outreach on those patients to schedule a follow-up appointment with either a primary care physician or refer that patient to a specialty care physician. Improve patient experience, meet CMS value-based incentives, and reduce high-cost visits.

 

• When a patient updates their coverage plan to Medicare, use AI to send customized outreach campaigns to ensure that patients are scheduling their Annual Wellness Visits. Improve patient experience, reduce ED visits for aging population, connect with growing patient sector.

 

• Using geospatial AI to find vulnerable communities that lack health care provider services and potential issues with health literacy. Generate customized outbound campaigns to connect with potential patients, educate them on important of preventative health with PCP, and schedule appointments. Improve patient experience, reduce high-cost ED visits, and meet value-based program expectations.

 

AI is not just another trend that will dissipate with time. It has the potential to transform many industries; healthcare included. It is a strong tool that can be used to improve both health outcomes financial outcomes. However, doing so will depend on using the right data to solve the right challenges. We can use AI to both show opportunities and drive improvements, however we must control the narrative, or we will be overwhelmed and lack any ability to drive positive change. Do not buy a product to solve your organizations problems but find a solution that can help you solve the specific problem that is having the biggest impact on your organization.