Artificial intelligence is a priority for organisations working in the healthcare sector according to the report “Embracing the shift in healthcare” by BML Munjal University.

“Primary research with C-suite executives in healthcare found that an AI strategy is high on their priority with plans to accelerate its adoption organisation-wide, but are currently constrained by lack of available skill sets,” the report said.

As per the research, 90 per cent of executives surveyed said that they have an AI strategy in place with 64 per cent stating that AI is of high priority in terms of organisational strategy.

Though 75 per cent of organisations are still in the early stages of adoption of AI and of other new-age technologies. AI, Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, 3D Printing, Big Data Analytics and Robotics are some of the top technologies being adopted in the healthcare sector. Out of these, AI is the highest adopted, followed by cloud computing and the internet of medical things, as per the study.

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Organisations are planning to further accelerate AI adoption with 74 per cent listing it as a high priority.

“The impact of Covid-19 has been mixed on the adoption levels, however, the majority (54 per cent) have said that it has paced up plans to adopt AI even further,” the report said.

Organisations are witnessing significant benefits from AI adoption which can be a motivating factor. 98 per cent of the participants admitted to seeing moderate to significant benefit from their AI strategy and adoption while a majority expect to see further significant benefit in the next 4-5 years.

“The top areas where organisations expect to see significant benefits from AI strategy are in operational efficiency, disease detection and diagnostics, patient satisfaction and cost savings,” he reports said.

In terms of challenges to AI adoption, a high capital requirement is a key challenge to implementing AI strategies within healthcare organisations.

“Executives also strongly feel that the potential impact on jobs (reduction due to automation) is a big challenge towards implementation. Given that AI is expected to leave numerous low-skilled jobs redundant in the next decade, executives need to manage this skillfully,” it said.

Another major challenge remains the lack of right skillsets.

“The lack of knowledge and skills is another major barrier (similar to various other industries) as the nature of work changes and the workforce needs to be reskilled to work effectively with emerging technologies like AI,” as per the report.

76 per cent of the participants said that they are investing heavily in the up-gradation of skills of the current workforce with respect to AI. While 66 per cent of the respondents stated that AI-related skills and knowledge is a priority for hiring.

A whopping 96 per cent of executives said that the current healthcare education needs a significant upgrade in India to keep pace with changing technologies.

“From SIRI to self-driving cars, artificial intelligence (AI) is progressing rapidly, making our everyday lives more convenient. While this surge is impacting all the fields, Artificial Intelligence is especially rising in the analysis, interpretation, and comprehension of complicated medical and healthcare data,” said Dr Vishal Talwar, Dean - School of Management, BML Munjal University.

“However, the industry is faced with a crippling skill shortage. It will not be an exaggeration to call the present scenario the largest talent challenger ever, and it is knocking hard at the gates of the Indian technology industry and academic institutions,” added Talwar.