When we think of breakthroughs in healthcare, we often conjure images of heroic interventions — the first organ transplantation, robotic surgery, and so on. But in fact many of the greatest leaps in human health have come from far more prosaic interventions — the safe disposal of human excrement through sewage and sanitation, for example, or handwashing during births and caesarians.
How AI Is Taking the Scut Work Out of Health Care
It’s saving both time and money.
March 05, 2018
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Summary.
The greatest opportunity for artificial intelligence in health care in the near term may come not from headline-grabbing moonshots but from putting computers and algorithms to work on the most mundane drudgery possible. Excessive paperwork and red-tape is the sewage of modern medicine. An estimated 14% of wasted health care spending — $91 billion — is the result of inefficient administration. AI can clean out the administrative muck that’s clogging up our medical organizations, sucking value out of our economy, and leading to burnout in the health care industry.
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Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Innovation and Creativity. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
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