How to adopt healthcare AI in 3 overlapping yet distinct phases
Here’s a factoid you may not have seen coming. By 2030, the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council annually purchase more than $23 billion worth of products and services related to generative AI.
The projection comes from the global Big 4 accounting and consulting firm PwC, aka PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has published a report focused on how the intensifying activity will affect healthcare in that part of the world.
(The six countries of the GCC, also called the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.)
The conspicuous growth curve ought to interest Westerners with any sort of stake in healthcare AI. And that goes not only for technology suppliers but also healthcare providers, who can learn from their peers on the other side of the world.
More to the point, all can learn by listening in on what PwC has to say to healthcare leaders in the GCC.
“By structuring AI work into three phases, leadership can establish a clear plan from strategy through execution and measurement,” the report reads, in part. “This structured approach aligns teams and maximizes AI’s impact on business operations, customer experiences and technology innovation.” More:
‘To drive this process, an AI Centre of Excellence (CoE) can be established, which will serve as a stepping stone to capture, ideate and develop use cases, and build internal capacity in a responsible and sustainable way.’
The three phases:
Phase 1: Ambition.
Key activities of this first phase include defining AI vision and goals, aligning customer needs and market trends, and establishing clear success criteria for measuring AI’s impact on customer experiences, PwC explains.
This phase “assesses the readiness and investment requirements for AI adoption,” the authors add, “and establishes governance structures and stakeholder engagement mechanisms to ensure alignment and accountability throughout the AI journey.” More:
‘Leadership teams should define quantifiable business goals using key performance indicators (KPIs) to demonstrate AI’s impact, ranging from improving patient outcomes and operational efficiency to driving revenue growth and ensuring regulatory compliance. By setting clear, measurable objectives, leadership can track progress, evaluate efficacy and demonstrate tangible value to stakeholders.’
Phase 2: AI transformation blueprint.
Here project leaders create a roadmap for balancing value with risk. The formula optimally derives from the KPIs identified in Phase 1 and leads to the development of AI business use cases.
Leadership should identify top opportunities for optimizing existing processes within healthcare workers’ current workflows, PwC advises. “In developing and prioritizing business use cases, leaders must define them in detail, including their objectives, target user groups, data requirements and expected outcomes,” the authors add. “Enabling technology needs are concurrently assessed, and a technology stack is selected or developed to effectively support AI use cases.” More:
‘The rapid advancement of AI technologies can lead to significant changes in risk and feasibility within a few months, necessitating continuous reassessment to ensure alignment with the latest developments and opportunities.’
Phase 3: Monitoring and evaluation.
This phase focuses on evaluating the outcomes of AI initiatives and measuring their impact against the overarching strategy, PwC suggests. These activities entail defining KPIs and metrics to assess the effectiveness, efficiency and ROI of AI programs.
“These metrics may include customer satisfaction scores, revenue growth, cost savings, operational efficiency gains and other relevant indicators,” the authors state. “It also includes conducting regular assessments to track progress, identify improvement areas, and adjust strategies and tactics as needed.” More:
‘Additionally, this phase aims to communicate results and insights to key stakeholders, including senior leadership, business unit, and external partners to recognize successes, address challenges and reinforce the value of AI in transforming customer experiences and driving business outcomes.’
AI is no longer a technology of healthcare’s future, PwC reminds GCC readers: It is in your here and now.
“Healthcare AI holds the promise of empowering healthcare leaders to overcome some of the sector’s most historically daunting challenges,” the authors remind. These include detecting diseases, streamlining care, reducing errors, mitigating burnout, lowering costs and improving outcomes.
‘It is not a question of whether healthcare will implement AI, but of how the implementation will proceed and evolve.’
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.