Durham, N.C.-based Duke Health will use its new partnership with Microsoft to develop ways to apply AI to its research and operations and will start with optimizing clinic schedules, The News & Observer reported Aug. 2.
Jeffrey Ferranti, MD, chief digital officer of Duke Health, told the publication that over the next five years, the health system will take a "stepwise approach" in implementing AI. Duke Health will do so by having its researchers evaluate the technology's accuracy and whether it has any biases that could be harmful.
"This is gonna sneak up on us and the world is going to be really different really soon," Dr. Ferranti said. "We're trying to get ahead of that curve and do it responsibly."
Duke Health will start with seeing how AI can optimize clinic schedules and to see if the technology can predict which patients are most likely to be no-shows for their appointments.
"There's a lot of inefficiencies in healthcare that we're struggling with," Dr. Ferranti said. "I think the experience of healthcare will become much more personalized, much more convenient as a result of applying these technologies."