AI in health care: uses, benefits, and concerns

The doctor will see you now. 

Health is central to all of our lives, and there are countless ways each of us approach it every day. Diet, exercise, sleep, hanging with friends, therapy, medicine, vitamins, getting your steps in, and so, so much more can all contribute to improving your health. Am I missing something? Oh, yeah, actually taking the time to see a medical professional!  

Health care is deeply important, but delivering it (and actually implementing it) can get really complicated, really fast. That’s where AI can help. In previous issues, we’ve taken a look at how AI is transforming human resources, education, and IT. Today, we’re shining a light on how health care professionals are using AI to offer high-quality care to patients faster, cheaper, and more personalized than was possible for many to do before it. It’s not brain surgery, but there’s a lot to cover, so let’s get right into it. 

But first, do you want access to an extensive catalog of AI and health care courses (+ so much more)? Enroll in Coursera Plus for just $25 a month (billed annually) from now until April 14, 2025. That’s a nearly $100 discount on more than 10,000 learning programs, expert-led courses, and job-ready certificates. 

👨⚕️How is AI used in health care? 

AI offers a wealth of opportunities to health care providers and patients alike–from diagnosing diseases to streamlining administrative tasks, like scheduling appointments and automatically sending bills. Today, AI-powered surgical robots are becoming increasingly capable of completing a range of both small and large surgical procedures. 

Even still, we’re a long way off from hospital wards staffed exclusively by autonomous androids in scrubs, but that doesn’t mean AI isn’t already in our hospitals–far from it. Here are just some of the ways AI is being used by health care professionals right now:  

🧮Health care analytics: Machine learning algorithms are trained on health care data to produce actionable insights, improve decision-making, and optimize outcomes. While this can be used for patient care, it can also improve organizational performance (which is welcome news for medical office managers, I’m sure).  

💊Precision medicine. Medical professionals use AI to whip up personalized treatment plans for patients based on factors like their medical history, genetic makeup, environment, and lifestyle.

💡Disease and illness prediction. Health care professionals can use predictive models to determine the likelihood a patient may develop a particular condition or contract a disease. 

🩻Test interpretation and disease diagnoses. Machine learning models trained on diagnostic scans like X-rays and MRIs can be used to diagnose conditions like cancerous lesions.

🏥Benefits (and concerns) of AI in health care

Whether you’re providing health care or receiving it, you can expect a wide range of benefits from AI in the coming years. While administrators can leverage the technology to reduce operational costs with improved decision-making and more efficient automation, health professionals can boost their productivity and accuracy with AI tools capable of building treatment plans and diagnosing conditions. As a result, patients may find improved health outcomes and decreased costs from more efficient health services. 

Despite many of these benefits, AI still poses several concerns that professionals must consider as they adopt the technology. From a legal perspective, cybersecurity risks mean that patient information must be handled with the greatest care lest they violate their privacy rights. Furthermore, due to potential biases in their training sets, AI can occasionally misdiagnose or underdiagnose conditions for members of certain groups. 

To ensure you gain the benefits and minimize the drawbacks of AI in health care, it’s important to get appropriate training and implement the technology safely. 

🩺Build your AI and health skills with these courses

Whether you’re a current or aspiring health professional, there’s an educational program for you. Build job-critical AI and health skills with one of these recommended courses:

For an understanding of health administration, enroll in MedCert’s Medical Office Procedures and Administration Fundamentals Specialization. Gain a comprehensive overview of key administrative functions in health care settings like patient scheduling and medical billing.

To learn more about AI and health care, try Stanford’s AI in Healthcare Specialization. Identify problems that health care providers can solve with machine learning and explore how AI can help you innovate. 

To explore 3D anatomy and physiology, look into Immersify’s Interactive 3D Anatomy & Physiology: A Gamified Experience Specialization. Develop a strong foundation in anatomy and physiology with engaging 3D visuals, real-world applications, and interactive learning. 

If you’re already a medical professional, consider DeepLearning.AI’s AI for Medicine Specialization. Acquire practical experience applying machine learning concrete problems in medicine with this three-course series. 

And, that’s all we’ve got this week, friends! Before you start reading up on the wonders of robot surgeons, consider letting us know how you’ve been using AI in your own workplace (health-related or not) in the comment section. See you next time!

Have a career question you’d like us to answer next? Share it below. And, as always, we welcome YOUR advice and experience in the comments.