Amazon Dives Into Healthcare AI With AWS HealthScribe to Save Doctors From Endless Hours of Documentation

This Wednesday, July 26th, Amazon Web Service (AWS) rolled out a new clinical documentation tool called HealthScribe.

The tool relies on generative AI technology, and according to the company, it could be a game changer in the healthcare industry.

Amazon’s new service is deepening the company’s commitment to augmenting healthcare delivery and innovation in this sector for people around the world. Its HealthScribe service relies on generative AI.

Similar technology has already been used for generating texts, images, and even music from simple textual prompts.

Now, Amazon intends to use it to improve the healthcare industry and enable healthcare software developers to create clinical applications that will rely on speech recognition, AI capabilities, and advanced ML algorithms.

Benefits and Risks of AI in Healthcare

The new tool is meant to help generate clinical documentation and enrich provider workflows.

Its potential capabilities are not yet fully explored, but already, researchers predict some incredible benefits that might come from this technology.

The tool could allow doctors to cut down on hours and hours of filling out documentation, which would leave them with more time for the real work that their precious training allows them and only them to do.

They would be able to see more patients, perform more procedures, and in the process, save more lives.

The tool might even lead to a reduced cost for patients, as well if payroll costs per patient can be reduced by taking away documentation work from doctors. All of these benefits might only be scratching the surface of the innovations that AI healthcare tools like HealthScribe could bring.

However, it is also worth keeping in mind the risks of allowing AI to take over the paperwork, especially now, while it is still in its early days.

For the moment, AI is still considered highly inconsistent. If it makes mistakes, its impact could be harmful or even potentially deadly for the patients.

At the very least, if these tasks are left to the AI, it would require heavy monitoring and oversight, as well as regular updates, improvements, potential bug fixes, and alike.

The idea of using AI for more trivial matters in healthcare is a major step in the right direction, but it might take years before artificial intelligence is deemed trustworthy and consistent enough to be left to operate on its own.

Amazon Allocates Millions into Generative AI

Despite the risks, Amazon is certainly not backing down from the challenge. In fact, AWS has already devoted millions of dollars to ramping up its generative AI ecosystem.

AWS’ VP of Database, Analytics, and Machine Learning, Swami Sivasubramanian, said:

Simply put, AI has reached a tipping point thanks to the convergence of technological progress and an increased understanding of what it can accomplish. Couple that with the massive proliferation of data, the availability of highly scalable compute capacity, and the advancement of ML technologies over time, and the focus on generative AI is finally taking shape.

AWS unveiled its HealthScribe generative AI tool during its annual AWS Summit conference that took place in New York.

It explained that the API would be able to create transcripts, extract details, and create summaries from doctor-patient discussions.

These transcripts and summaries would all become a part of an electronic health record (EHR) system.

This data can then be converted into patient notes to be analyzed for broad insights.

Furthermore, alongside HealthScribe, Amazon also announced HealthImaging — another new service created to make it easier to store, transform, and analyze medical imaging data.

Generative AI’s Use Cases in Healthcare are Growing

All in all, the use of AI in healthcare is already opening up an endless series of new possibilities that could significantly improve the sector and the lives of millions if done correctly.

Amazon is not the only one who sees the potential of these technologies. Biopharma firms, such as Insilico Medicine and Evotec, have also launched clinical trials using generative AI to enhance drug discovery and development.

Then, there are smart technology firms like Zepp Health, which are using generative AI for the creation of a new generation of wearables, that would assist users with health management and general well-being.

The use cases of AI in healthcare continue to pile up, and that is only a single sector of modern society, which suggests that generative AI technology has near-unlimited use cases across all industries.

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