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EIT Health, Europe’s largest public-private partnership working in the field of innovative medicine and healthcare, has published a report on technology and artificial intelligence in healthcare systems. One of the main conclusions of the study is the need to start rebuilding health care as soon as possible based on technology and artificial intelligence, after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has exposed the weaknesses of existing solutions. Immediate action is essential to avoid a health collapse in the next decade.
- The global economy is growing, and with it the health sector: by 2030, it could create as many as 40 million new jobs.
- Even so, according to the World Health Organization, there will be a shortage of nearly 10 million doctors and medical staff by then.
- The new EIT Health report emphasizes the need for urgent investments, changes in education and creating legal conditions for the development of technology based on artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare.
- To help solve the problem of insufficient education in the field of artificial intelligence, EIT Health launches, among others free training program HelloAI RIS Online. Applications are open until May 28.
As the authors of the report emphasize, the challenges caused by the pandemic overlap with processes and challenges such as the aging of the society. According to the United Nations, in 2050 as many as a quarter of Europeans aged 65+ will have health needs that are far more complex than those of “today’s” seniors and will require complex care and treatment.
Technologies will help better manage doctors’ time
The report prepared by EIT Health is a summary of the discussions that took place in the form of a round table in 2020 in seven European capitals, including Warsaw. During the meetings, experts – representatives of government institutions, medical universities, research and development centers, startups developing AI solutions, NGOs, and company representatives – defined the most pressing problems related to the development of AI and jointly formulated recommendations for easily implementable solutions at the regional and European level.
Jan-Philipp Beck, CEO EIT Health:“The conclusions of the EIT Health Think Tank report on artificial intelligence show us the paths we should follow when developing technologies and AI in European healthcare systems. We already know that AI can change this sector. However, we must act quickly and together to ‘build’ AI into the currently operating solutions. The pandemic challenge has undoubtedly accelerated the growth, deployment and scaling of AI. It is important to all stakeholders involved that healthcare continues to be delivered quickly, efficiently and remotely. This energy and mobilization should be sustained to create solutions that will help us prepare for the challenges of the future. Solutions the beneficiaries of which will be all of us. “
New technologies and AI are already a great support in treatment, diagnosis and health prophylaxis today. According to the data collected by EIT Health and the consulting company McKinsey, they can support tasks that today occupy from 20 to even 80 percent. working time of medical staff.
Mikołaj Gurdała, innovation manager of EIT Health InnoStars: “Artificial intelligence and algorithms help directly with treatment, for example by enabling doctors and medical staff to use large data sets for imaging diagnostics. A physician analyzing the X-ray image without outside support can compare the image with a limited number of other cases. A computer with access to a large database can compile X-rays with millions of others and point out similarities to already diagnosed patients, helping to make a diagnosis. This is just one of hundreds of examples of the use of AI. However, we must focus on education as soon as possible. “
The most important recommendations contained in the EIT Health report concern the implementation of a large-scale teaching on artificial intelligence or the improvement of infrastructure for the exchange of IT data, which will allow, for example, even faster monitoring of the spread of diseases, more efficient diagnosis and design of completely new solutions based on medical data resources. The EIT Health Think Tank also developed suggestions for changes in the health care system in Poland. They are divided into thematic areas: Strategy and management; Risk management and accountability; Market regulation; Financing; Data quality, interoperability and governance (governance). The most important recommendations concern, inter alia, donating personal data, creating dedicated positions for people responsible for innovation in each healthcare unit, creating uniform standards for AI implementation, developing partnerships and consortia that act as AI catalysts.
EIT Health educates on AI: HelloAI RIS Online program starts
HelloAI RIS Online is a course organized by EIT Health and GE Healthcare in collaboration with other partner organizations. The curriculum is adapted to people who do not necessarily have programming or medical skills. Participants will be trained in the area of basic understanding of artificial intelligence, elements of machine learning, and the possibilities of using AI in healthcare, also in the area of increasing the efficiency of the healthcare system. In 2020, over 1500 people, including from Poland, applied to the program. Application to HelloAI RIS Online can be completed on this page until May 28, 2021.
The full EIT Health Think Tank report on technology and artificial intelligence in healthcare is available at: https://thinktank.eithealth.eu/.
EITHealth is a non-for-profit organization on behalf of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), established by the European Union in 2008 to strengthen Europe’s capacity for innovation. EIT Health is Europe’s largest public-private partnership working in the field of innovative medicine and healthcare. More than 150 leading companies, universities, research and development centers from all over Europe develop joint innovative projects that are tested and implemented within healthcare systems. So far, EIT Health has trained 11 students, doctors, scientists, entrepreneurs, implemented over 55 specific solutions on the market, provided support to over 600 of the best European startups and helped obtain investor financing in the amount of over EUR 100 million for the most promising projects. More: www.eithealth.eu
EIT Health InnoStars: is one of the seven areas where EIT Health is present. It covers half of Europe, including Poland, Hungary, Italy and Portugal, and additional countries included in the EIT Health Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS) program: the Baltic States, Croatia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Greece and Romania. These are countries where, according to the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS), the pace of innovation is average and requires stimulation. EIT Health InnoStars focuses on the promotion of entrepreneurship, innovation and education in the field of health protection, healthy life and activation of the elderly. In Poland, EIT Health InnoStars cooperates with partners: the Medical University of Łódź, the Medical University of Gdańsk, Polpharma, the Institute of Occupational Medicine. J.Nofera, Łukasiewicz Research Network – PORT Polish Center for Technology Development.
EIT Regional Innovation Scheme Programme (EIT RIS) is the European program for developing regions in the field of innovation, created by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). In the field of medicine and health, the program has been operating since 2016 and is coordinated by EIT Health InnoStars. The program consists of 13 local EIT Health hubs from Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. Hubs act as access points to the European network of the best universities and commercial companies and their projects. The aim of the program is to stimulate innovation in the field of medicine and health, discover unique innovations and support local entrepreneurs, as well as enable them to participate in European programs, competitions and pro-innovative projects.