Kapila Ratnam, a partner at NewSpring Capital, speculates in a Med City News piece about the possible impacts of artificial intelligence on healthcare.

Among her observations:

“In the short term, AI has immediate applicability within the administration and operation of a hospital or healthcare system. Think in terms of supply chain and inventory management within a hospital. For example, AI can be used to ensure a surgical room is correctly stocked with appropriate inventory based on the series of surgeries scheduled to be performed in the room that day. Additionally, inventory could be automatically tracked with an algorithm that is able to assess a surgeon’s needs and send instructions to a robot that can pick up and deliver appropriate supplies to the surgical room at the beginning of a day….”

“From a clinical care delivery perspective, AI is already presenting itself, albeit in the early stages, with the ability to provide clinical decision support (CDS) to physicians. With the amount of data, research and literature published on a daily basis, it’s humanly impossible for a specialist to digest it all. However, a sophisticated AI system can be designed to scan the latest and greatest data, combine research with known medical information on a patient, and provide the overseeing physician with options on optimum care for this patient – creating a truly personalized experience….”

”Additionally, we are now in a phase where technology has surpassed the ability of a human to diagnose disease accurately, so it’s very possible we will see the impact of AI in patient diagnoses within the next several years. ”