The idea of A.I. potentially replacing physicians sounds like something 50 years into the future, but many scientists and healthcare experts believe that A.I. may soon be entering into practice. A.I. may soon be working alongside physicians, and for urgent care practices, the integration of A.I. technology may help provide urgent care with better accuracy than ever before. Most of the medical community is optimistic about the use of A.I., and all have different visions of what the future will appear as for people everywhere. It’s right now unclear what the future of A.I. will look like, but with the various technologies we currently have in place, the concept of A.I. may not be so far off.
Our outlook for A.I. technology comes with some great advancements for the healthcare industry, but it also comes with some debates about how A.I. will be used. One of the biggest benefits cited by experts is that it could provide greater access to underprivileged communities and lower healthcare costs. It can also potentially reduce the risk of medical errors, supply more healthcare services for those in emergency care facilities and outpatient practices, and free overworked physicians from the stressors of their careers.
However, there are also some potential downsides with A.I. in healthcare. The idea of data collections and privacy issues may become even more of a concern with the conception of A.I. Alongside that, A.I. could potentially overlook the needs of underserved communities and create biases based on collected data, resulting in failures to provide services for those in need. With that, it can also misdiagnose conditions and categorize conditions incorrectly based on preceding information.
Right now, we can’t know for certain how A.I. will be used. So, what technologies do we have now that may eventually be its predecessors? In order to provide more insight into A.I., the healthcare industry has technologies that apply A.I. techniques, including:
As many healthcare practices are working on using A.I. at their practices, urgent care practices may potentially benefit from these types of services by providing faster means of analytics and diagnosis for various conditions. Temperature monitors, on-screen interfaces, and even telemedicine may also help improve the outlook of A.I. in urgent care, and while these systems still require improvements, they’re highly worth exploring if it means healthcare can be improved.