AI and Digital Health: Transforming Medical Practice

Good health and wellbeing is one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aims to achieve universal health coverage for all. To ensure this goal is achieved, substantial amount of investment is required to progress healthcare innovation and improve healthcare accessibility for all.

Healthcare has now taken a central focus owing to the pandemic and the increasing health impacts tied to climate change. Amid the peak of the pandemic, government spending on healthcare increased significantly – doubling between 2021-22. Climate change is also having a dire impact on human health. By 2030, negative health effects driven by climate change will push at least 44 million people into extreme poverty, mostly in regions from Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. And by 2050, health costs will increase at an excess of US$21 trillion, approximately 1.3% of low- and middle-income countries’ projected GDP.

Consumers are now increasingly prioritizing health. Out-of-pocket expenditure per capita has increased substantially, growing to US$213 in 2022 from US$166 in 2010, with a sharp rise seen between 2020 to 2021. Other than spending, consumers are also becoming more aware of innovative healthcare solutions at their disposal. People are switching to organic alternatives and relying on wearable devices to track their health conditions.

Digital Health

Several innovative breakthroughs are changing the healthcare landscape – particularly in terms of enhancing diagnostic accuracy, streamlining treatment planning and expanding access to care. 

Telehealth’s usage grew significantly amid strict measures around social distancing and lockdowns during the pandemic. But it also highlighted the need for healthcare access that is even lacking now in remote parts of the world.

And it was the emergence of technologies such as AI that helped scientists in developing a vaccine to COVID-19 much faster. Vaccine developers such as Pfizer and Moderna were able to rapidly comb through viral genomes to identify spike proteins that are effective in triggering a strong immune response in the human body. AI also helped in shortlisting participants for COVID-19 vaccine’s clinical trials, greatly reducing the time for vaccine development from years to months. According to researchers in Iran’s university: “AI’s ability to integrate computational speed with biological complexity redefined the boundaries of what is possible in global health responses, signaling a new era of AI-driven therapeutic development for future crises.”

A meticulous review of AI’s usage in medical imaging reveals its immense potential in image analysis and interpretation; operational efficiency; predictive and personalized healthcare; and support in clinical decision-making. AI makes a noteworthy exception in effectively analyzing and interpreting clinical images, enhancing the precision of diagnoses in complex medical cases like cancer. AI’s usage is pivotal in helping diagnose and enable proactive healthcare strategies before they develop into serious medical conditions. Integrating AI with electronic health records has greatly enriched clinical decision-making, streamlining patient care.

Steps Forward

AI’s potential in healthcare cannot be overlooked. But to ensure its benefits are fully realized, several measures must be taken. Cybersecurity is one area that needs to be significantly upgraded to prevent instances of cyber breaches on hospitals and healthcare services. “Ransomware and other cyberattacks on hospitals and other health facilities are not just issues of security and confidentiality, they can be issues of life and death,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “At best, these attacks cause disruption and financial loss. At worst, they undermine trust in the health systems on which people depend, and even cause patient harm and death.”

AI researchers and policymakers should also invest in developing and using data that is unbiased and inclusive. To train AI models, vast amounts of data is required, which at most times have been found to be biased. Implementation of unbiased data unlocks benefits for all from the implementation of AI in healthcare. Moreover, medical practitioners and healthcare institutions should overcome challenges around data quality, privacy, and human intervention to ensure responsible and effective AI integration.

Collaboration among key stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem is also vital to not only unlock AI’s full potential in healthcare, but also enable patient and provider trust. Ethical guidelines around use of AI in healthcare is still in its nascency. WHO has developed a set of ethical principles that can be used as a guidance point for governments planning to use AI in healthcare. These principles are based on a single objective, ensuring that wellbeing of all is paramount, avoiding harm to others and treating all fairly. 

Horasis strongly believes that the challenges we face today, need collective action. And Horasis is furthering this belief through its upcoming Horasis Global Meeting, which is in its tenth edition. Scheduled between 7 to 10 October 2025 in São Paulo, Brazil, the meeting will draw together opinions and experiences of global leaders from various backgrounds on finding cooperative frameworks to our current challenges.

Photo Caption: AI’s potential in healthcare cannot be overlooked.