Generative AI has shown its major staying power and will cause a seismic shift through all industries and in daily life.
Healthcare, after falling behind the technology developments of other service industries for decades, is positioned to embrace and lead this change. According to a recent Accenture report, 98% of healthcare providers and 89% of healthcare payer executives agree that advancements in generative AI are ushering in a new era of enterprise intelligence and that 40% of all working hours in healthcare could be supported or augmented by language-based AI.
Leveraging healthcare’s rapid digitization experience to adopt generative AI
The past few years, wrought with challenges, have led to increased innovation and adaptation in healthcare technology. Health systems rapidly leveraged technology to meet safety standards during COVID, digitized care delivery where possible, and optimized capacity when increased constraints made efficiency critical to preserving financial solvency and patient access. In doing so they also developed the knowledge, experience, and infrastructures needed to continue adopting new solutions successfully.
Many health system decision makers now know how to discern solutions that will support end users in their established processes and add immediate value to their organizations, as well as meet strict metrics of privacy and safety. Organizational leaders have established precedents for the change management strategies required to adopt this new technology, and IT teams have implemented needed cloud infrastructures and set high standards for data hygiene. These leaders are prepared to embrace the next technology advancement of utilizing and leveraging generative AI, and to reap the results of streamlined operations and improved patient and clinician outcomes. This begins with confirming how the technology fulfills the needs and supports the functions of its end users, the people who work throughout the health system.
Generative AI can empower and activate healthcare staff to improve overall results
Generative AI is a real, working technology with tangible benefits that are directly applicable to healthcare operations. When properly deployed, it can draw on the wealth of existing healthcare data and give leaders, providers, and staff the insights and predictions they most need to supplement their skills and expertise. Through the use of large language models (LLMs), generative AI solutions can conduct human-like conversations with their users, giving immediate data-backed advice responses in helpful terms.
A generative AI solution for hospital operations that is designed to plug into staff needs and create “air traffic control” across the health system is iQueue Autopilot from LeanTaaS. In practice, there are three key abilities generative AI technology like Autopilot can offer healthcare staff to enhance their decision-making and foster continuous improvement:
1. Answering healthcare staff’s questions in real time
On their desktops, smartphones, or tablets, nurses can request up-to-the-minute staffing or unit recommendations, leaders in the OR or infusion center can seek answers for optimizing schedules, and hospital administrators can ask for insights regarding volume shifts or utilization trends. These conversations offer healthcare staff easy and invaluable insights and recommendations to smooth patient flow and optimize capacity, day-to-day and in the long term.
2. Warning staff of future roadblocks, and suggesting solutions
Generative AI solutions can proactively alert staff to potential issues throughout the day, even when they are not actively engaged with their technology tools. iQueue Autopilot can flag capacity issues like potential discharge barriers or unit overflows through email, SMS, and other messaging platforms, providing tangible recommendations on how to address and resolve them, so staff can take prompt action and stay ahead of obstacles. In this way, generative AI helps staff promote efficiency, minimize disruptions, and learn how to foresee more capacity issues in the future.
3. Offering “in the moment” problem-solving and mitigation
By continually monitoring processes and data, generative AI can detect and promptly notify users of deviations from standard protocols, so staff can proactively address potential safety or operational issues before they escalate. If the solution detects a possible risk in any area of the hospital, it can give mitigation recommendations to flex other assets and resources, enabling staff to act accordingly and ensure the highest level of patient safety and quality of care.
As it supports healthcare staff directly and conveniently in critical areas of their work, generative AI enables data-driven decision-making, enhances operational efficiency, and fosters an ongoing culture of curiosity and improvement. By empowering staff, this technology improves outcomes overall and drives the future of healthcare forward – and healthcare is ready to adopt it.
Learn more about iQueue Autopilot and request an executive briefing here.