The investment and operating burden of hospitals will permanently increase with wider deployment of artificial intelligence (AI). For AI to realize its potential, structural financial room is needed. This is what the Dutch Association of Hospitals (NVZ) and the Dutch Federation of University Medical Centers (NFU) advocate in the position paper 'AI in healthcare - accelerated and responsible scaling up'.
The NVZ and NFU are convinced that AI has great added value for Dutch healthcare, according to the position paper. AI can increase efficiency and thereby increase care capacity. The two industry associations are thinking of automating administrative tasks and optimizing planning and logistics. But AI can also improve diagnostics, support personalized treatments and improve communication with the patient before, during and after treatment.
No financial room
Before that happens, though, there are still some big bumps to overcome. Sparse hospital finances is one of them. "Deployment of AI requires making healthcare organizations 'AI-ready,'" the two industry organizations write. "In addition, there are costs associated with development or acquisition, validation, implementation, management, maintenance and use of AI applications. Hospitals currently lack the financial space to make that possible."
According to the drafters, the fact that AI takes away work does not mean that we can count ourselves rich: "Deployment of AI offers opportunities for increasing capacity. However, these do not necessarily translate directly into cost savings."
Responsible AI
In addition to financial hurdles, regulations also stand in the way of wider application of AI. Innovation is now hampered by a multitude of national and international laws and regulations, combined with a lack of interpretation and coherence, according to the NVZ and NFU. They therefore advocate "easily interpretable and applicable laws and regulations." In line with this, there should also be rules of thumb for "responsible AI. "There is a need for an unambiguous and practically manageable ethical framework for responsible use in order to create and maintain trust with both patients and healthcare professionals."
Health data infrastructure
Technical obstacles to the further rollout of AI in healthcare also exist. "High-quality, accessible and well-structured data is essential for the development, validation and application of AI," said the NVZ n NFU. Data availability and standardization are still lacking in healthcare. In addition, improved data infrastructures are needed. A national health data infrastructure that facilitates the exchange and reuse of data is crucial, according to the NVZ and NFU. Programs such as the National Coverage Network (LDN) - facilitated by initiatives such as CumuluZ and Health-RI - are a step in the right direction.
Shared ambitions
To set things in motion, the NVZ and NFU want to draw up a working agenda with the other parties involved. Among the parties involved are at least the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and health insurers. In any case, the two associations think they have Minister Agema of VWS on their side. She recently presented plans that unreservedly identify AI as a solution to major problems in healthcare such as staff shortages and capacity shortages.
"The ambitions of the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport and the sector's vision of how AI can transform healthcare in order to address important challenges go hand in hand," the NVZ and NFU conclude. Whether the minister will thereby also come up with money, as both industry associations want, remains to be seen.
This is an article by Dutch Health Hub. Want to keep up with all the news from the healthcare industry? Then take a look at the hub and sign up for the weekly newsletter.
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