AI in Healthcare 2020 Leadership Survey Report: 7 Key Findings

Artificial and augmented intelligence are already helping healthcare improve clinically, operationally and financially—and there is extraordinary room for growth. Success starts with leadership, vision and investment and leaders tell us they have all of the above. Here are the top 7 survey findings.

01 C-level healthcare leaders are leading the charge to AI. AI has earned the attention of the C-suite, with 40% of survey respondents saying their strategy is coming from the top down. Chief information officers are most often managing AI across the healthcare enterprise (27%).

02 AI has moved into the mainstream. The future is now. It’s here. Health systems are hiring data scientists and spending on AI and infrastructure. Some 40% of respondents are using AI, with 50% using between one and 10 apps.

03 Health systems are committed to investing in AI. 93% of respondents agree AI is absolutely essential, very important or important to their strategy. There is great willingness to take advantage of intelligent technology and leverage machine intelligence to enhance human intelligence. Administration holds financial responsibility for AI at 43% of facilities, with IT paying the bill at 26% of sites.

04 Fortifying infrastructure is top of mind. 93% of respondents agree AI is absolutely essential, very important or important to their strategy. There is great willingness to take advantage of intelligent technology and leverage machine
intelligence to enhance human intelligence. Administration holds financial responsibility for AI at 43% of facilities, with IT paying the bill at 26% of sites.

05 Improving care is AI’s greatest benefit. Improving accuracy, efficiency and workflow are the top benefits leaders see coming from AI. AI helps to highlight key findings from the depths of the EMR, identify declines in patient conditions earlier and improve chronic disease management. Cancer, heart disease and stroke are the disease states survey respondents see AI holding the greatest promise—the 2nd, 1st and 5th leading killer of Americans.

06 Health systems are both buying and developing AI apps. Some 50% of respondents tell us they are both buying and developing AI apps. About 38% are exclusively opting to purchase commercially developed apps while 13% are developing everything in-house.

07 Radiology is blazing the AI trail. AI apps for imaging outnumber all other categories of FDA-approved apps to date. It’s no surprise then that respondents tell us that rad apps top the list of tools they’re using to enhance breast, chest and cardiovascular imaging.