Data science and AI are opening up new opportunities to optimise resources and improve quality of care, experts argued at the recent World Innovation Summit for Health in Qatar.

With more data than ever before now available, machine learning that can interpret large datasets stored and processed more cheaply, compared to a decade ago, the "next wave of progress” in healthcare could be generated by harnessing advancements in data science, according to a report published ahead of the summit, which took place earlier this month.

Professor Aziz Sheikh, Director of the Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, University of Edinburgh, and one of the report's authors, said it was “prime time for healthcare to capitalise on the technology pool”.

“We do all of our banking now on smartphones. I can’t remember the last time I stepped into a bank, but our experiences of healthcare are so very different,” he told delegates at the event.

In spite of “consumer enthusiasm” growing, however, healthcare is still lagging behind other sectors. But Professor Sheikh said there was an opportunity to maximise the potential of healthcare data assets by applying lessons from other areas.

To enable the move toward “data-enabled systems”, governments and policy-makers should provide national leadership and pursue a “longer term transformation plan” to create the necessary infrastructure, develop appropriate governance frameworks to handle sensitive data, and address the global shortage in the required workforce.

Although most health systems are currently at the beginning of the journey, the "convergence of data science technologies", including wearables and robotics, could transform how care is “planned, delivered and experienced”, and facilities could in the future be linked to “smart homes” and “smart cities” to enable continuous learning, it was argued.

"This work will not be without its difficulties, but the prize for making progress will be substantial for patients," experts added. "It will also be beneficial for nation states in terms of improved healthcare decision-making and health outcomes, reduced health expenditure, and job creation in data science and research."

The World Innovation Summit for Health also tackled the importance of involving hospital staff in the design process to uncover new innovations, and the challenges and opportunities that digital technologies bring to the mental health field.
 
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