Despite a growing interest in artificial intelligence, most healthcare organizations still lack the tools necessary to ensure responsible use of such technologies, finds a report from Accenture Health. According to the report, Digital Health Technology Vision 2018, 81% of healthcare executives said they are not yet prepared to face the societal and liability issues needed to explain their AI systems' decisions. Additionally, while 86% of respondents said that their organizations are using data to drive automated decision-making, the same proportion (86%) report they have not invested in the capabilities needed to verify data sources across their most critical systems. Kaveh Safavi, head of Accenture's health practice, observed that the current lack of AI data verification investment activity is exposing healthcare organizations to inaccurate, manipulated and biased data that can lead to corrupted insights and skewed results. "The 86% figure is critical," he stated, "given that 24% of executives also said that they have been the target of adversarial AI behaviors, such as falsified location data or bot fraud on more than one occasion." On a positive note, the study found that 73% of respondents plan to develop internal ethical standards for AI to ensure that their systems act responsibly.

The vast majority of healthcare organizations lack the capabilities needed to ensure that their artificial intelligence systems act accurately, responsibly and transparently, finds a new survey by consulting and professional services firm Accenture. AI has the potential to be a transformative technology in healthcare. In the Accenture survey, 80 percent of health executives agree that within the next two years, AI will work next to humans in their organization, as a coworker, collaborator and trusted advisor. However, 81 percent of health executives say their organizations are not prepared to face the societal and liability issues that will require them to explain their AI-based actions and decisions, should issues arise, according to Accenture's Digital Health Technology Vision 2018 report. With the increasing role that AI will play in healthcare decision-making, organizations need to carefully consider the responsibility and liability of the actions their systems take on their behalf, contends Accenture.

Accenture identified five forces that would likely have an impact on the healthcare industry now. These forces, which it said will converge in three to five years, include: intelligent automation; the liquid workforce; the platform economy; predictable disruption; and digital trust. Kaveh Safavi, M.D., J.D., senior managing director of Accenture's health practice, said with these five forces, the health industry will increasingly tap digital technologies to augment human labor, personalize care and free up time to focus on where they are needed most. "The outcome of a people-first, digital health strategy is that it liberates the healthcare workforce to focus on more meaningful work that requires judgment and personal interaction," he said. According to the industry report, "Accenture Digital Health Technology Vision 2016, the health industry will increasingly embrace intelligent automation--powered by artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and augmented reality – to streamline basic tasks, such as collecting patient intake data, enabling clinicians to focus where their training and experience have the greatest value. An Accenture's survey found that roughly seven in 10 health executives are investing more in machine learning and AI-related technologies than they were two years ago. Nearly half of health executives also reported extensive use of automation for IT tasks (48 percent) and customer interactions (47 percent). The future workforce will also be empowered by technology to scale clinical expertise to many patients, from wherever that doctor is working. Accenture said this increasingly liquid workforce will allow health organizations to adjust and adapt to meet today's dynamic demands. As patients expect the on-demand services they enjoy in financial services, entertainment and retail to permeate their health experiences, new options will emerge to tailor interactions and augment care services. The report estimates that by the end of 2019, roughly four in 10 people (42 percent) in the healthcare workforce will be contractors, freelancers or internal temporary positions. The platform economy will likewise use digitally enabled business models to capture new growth opportunities and link patient experiences across the health ecosystem. Accenture estimates that demand for health application programming interfaces (APIs) will grow 10-fold by 2021. Nearly 4 in 10 health executives surveyed (39 percent) believe that these online-based services – such as self-scheduling appointments, accessing records and tracking a patient's activity from hospital to home – are very critical to their business' success. And just as platforms are disrupting traditional care models, Accenture believes predictable disruption will force health executives to expect the unexpected. "To that end, 86 percent of healthcare executives feel pressure to reinvent their businesses before they are overtaken by competitors, or disrupted out of their markets.

To Succeed in the Digital Economy, Health Organizations Must Tap Digital Models That Place People First and Scale Expertise to Meet Demand, Accenture Report Finds Annual outlook predicts five converging digital trends that will shift how healthcare applies key innovations LAS VEGAS; June 16, 2016 – To succeed in the digital economy, health organizations will need to place people first and adopt strategies to scale expertise to meet changing demand, according to an annual report by Accenture (NYSE: ACN) released at the annual America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Institute & Expo in Las Vegas. The industry report, Accenture Digital Health Technology Vision 2016, identified five digital forces that [Accenture predicts] will converge over the next three to five years to reshape healthcare delivery: Intelligent Automation; The Liquid Workforce; The Platform Economy; Predictable Disruption; and Digital Trust. The five digital forces Accenture identified and their likely impact on the healthcare industry are described below. The Digital Health Tech Vision 2016 from accenture Intelligent Automation According to Accenture, the health industry will increasingly embrace intelligent automation--powered by artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and augmented reality – to streamline basic tasks, such as collecting patient intake data, enabling clinicians to focus where their training and experience have the greatest value. Significant investments in intelligent automation are already underway, as Accenture's survey found that roughly seven in 10 health executives are investing more in machine learning and AI-related technologies than they were two years ago.