Leveraging AI to Improve Healthcare—and Bring Joy Back to Medicine BY M A R C U S Z AC H A R Y, D O
It’s popular to say that our healthcare system is broken. I’d argue that the healthcare system isn’t actually broken—it’s working exactly as designed. It just wasn’t designed for everyone.
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Babylon’s AIpowered platform incurred between 15% to 35% lower acute hospital costs than the regional average.”
Engineered to treat patients once they’re already sick, the current system has proven itself to be ineffective and costly for patients and providers. In the U.S., healthcare quality is unpredictable, and healthcare expenditures represent 18% of GDP. Despite the money and provider time that’s put toward treating patients, more than half (51.8%) of U.S. adults have a chronic condition, and one-third have multiple chronic conditions. Patients defer care or go into debt, making them sicker, and providers get stuck in the rut of administrative tasks—which keeps them from practicing at the top of their license and from spending time with the patients who need them most. The pandemic exposed the flaws in our healthcare system, and while many digital health companies have stepped onto the scene with promises to transform healthcare as we know it, few have actually moved the needle. Babylon’s unique and holistic approach to healthcare utilizes artificial intelligence-powered technology to empower patients to take control of their health, whether they are sick or well, and engage with their care at every step of the healthcare journey. This re-engineering of the system not only reduces costs and shifts the focus from reactive “sick care” to proactive healthcare, but it also improves the provider experience to help bring the joy back into practicing medicine.
DIGITAL-FIRST APPROACH In a time when clinicians are in short supply and ERs and hospitals remain consistently full, it’s important for providers to work smarter, not harder. Especially with cumbersome administrative tasks, there is a bottleneck in the treatment of patients, as well as a misuse of providers’ time and training. Babylon’s digital-first approach to healthcare uses AI to triage patients and offer nonclinical support via message, phone, or video. Patients can access high-quality care right from the devices they already own and speak with clinical professionals virtually to consult both urgent and chronic conditions, receive clinical care plans to support treatment and recovery, and be connected to in-person and specialist care as needed. Thanks to these AI-powered tools, patients are offered a personalized and member-friendly experience, with the bulk of clinical care handled before a patient ever steps into a doctor’s office. This shift reduces the administrative burden on care providers so they can do what they were trained to do: help patients heal and remain as healthy as possible.
40 l JOURNAL OF AMERICA’S PHYSICIAN GROUPS
Fall/Winter 2021
