Module 1: Applications of

Artificial Intelligence for

Health

Unit 2: Emerging Trends for

AI in Health
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:

• Summarize emerging trends in the use of AI in health

Emerging Trends in the use of AI in Clinical Care
Emerging Trends in the use of AI in
Clinical Care
The use of AI in clinical care introduces
important changes that extend beyond the
provider–patient relationship.
Emerging Trends in the use of AI in
Clinical Care
Four emerging trends are:

1 The evolving role of the patient in clinical and primary care

2 The shift from hospital to home-based care

3 The use of AI for “clinical” care outside the formal health system

4 The use of AI for resource allocation and prioritization

Evolving Role of the Patient in Clinical Care
Evolving Role of the Patient in Clinical
Care
AI could change how patients self-manage
their own medical conditions, especially
chronic diseases, such as:

• Cardiovascular diseases
• Diabetes
• Mental health problems
Evolving Role of the Patient in Clinical
Care
Patients already take significant responsibility for their own care.
Evolving Role of the Patient in Clinical
Care
AI could further support self-care, by providing health information and
guidance, through:
Concerns with Self-Care Tools
With chatbots in particular, it is often unclear
to the end-user:

• How is data processed, stored, and retained

• The terms and conditions for the platform
hosting the chatbot

For instance, some health organisations use

chatbots in Facebook.
Facebook has access to the chatbot
conversations hosted on its platform.
Evolving Role of the Patient in Clinical
Care
A shift to patient-based care may be considered:

• Empowering • Stressful
• Beneficial • Reduce access to formal health
care services
 Evolving Role of the Patient in Clinical
Care
The growing use of digital self-management
technologies raises wider questions of regulatory
scrutiny.

• Clinical applications require greater regulatory

scrutiny
• “Wellness applications” require less or even no
regulatory scrutiny

Many digital self-management technologies fall into a

“grey zone” between these two categories.
WHO / Blink Media - Neil Nuia
 Evolving Role of the Patient in Clinical
Care
In the USA, HIPAA sets regulatory standards for the
lawful use and disclosure of health information.

HIPAA only applies to “covered entities” – health care

providers and their business associates.

Entities not covered by HIPAA do not have the same

level of obligations with regard to the processing of
health data.
Shift from Hospital to Home-Based Care
Shift from Hospital- to Home-Based Care

Telemedicine is part of a shift from hospital-

to home-based care.

This shift has accelerated since the start of

the COVID-19 pandemic.
 Shift from Hospital- to Home-Based Care
AI technologies are being used to facilitate this shift
through:

• Remote monitoring systems

o Video-observed therapy for tuberculosis
imaging
• Virtual assistants to support patient care

WHO / Noor Images -

Mariceu Erthal
Shift from Hospital- to Home-Based
Care
AI technologies may play a more active role in
the management of patients’ health outside
clinical settings, such as in “just-in-time
adaptive interventions”.

These rely on sensors to provide patients with

specific interventions according to data
collected.

They also notify a health care provider of any

emerging concern.

WHO / NOOR - Sebastian Liste

Shift from Hospital- to Home-Based
Care
The growth and use of sensors and wearables
may improve the effectiveness of “just-in-time
adaptive interventions” but also raise human
rights and ethical concerns.

• The amount of data technologies collect

• How data is used
• The burden these technologies may shift to
patients
AI for “Clinical” Care Outside the Formal Health System
AI for “Clinical” Care Outside the
Formal Health System
AI applications in health are no longer exclusively used
in health care systems.

AI technologies for health can be acquired and used by

non-health system entities.

For example, AI applications for mental health are often

provided through the education system, workplaces and
social media.

WHO / Blink Media –

Nana Kofi Acquah
AI for “Clinical” Care Outside the Formal
Health System
The trend of self-management has also increased the use of AI-guided mobile
health applications and wearables.

On the body In the body Near the body

• Artificial limbs • Insulin pump • Activity trackers

• Smart implants patches • Smart watches
• Electroencephalogra • Smart glasses
m devices
 AI for “Clinical” Care Outside the
Formal Health System
Wearables create more opportunities to:

• Monitor a person’s health

• Capture more data to predict health risks

Monitoring “healthy” individuals raises concerns. It

permits near-constant surveillance and collection of
excessive data.

This data collection contributes to the ever-growing

practice of “biosurveillance”.
AI for Resource Allocation and Prioritization
AI for Resource Allocation and
Prioritization
The use of AI to assist in decision-making about
prioritization or allocation of scarce health care
resources.

The attraction of this use of AI has grown due to the

COVID-19 pandemic.

WHO / Noor Images

- Mariceu Erthal
 AI for Resource Allocation and
Prioritization
Machine learning uses algorithms and data to
automatically learn and adapt with or without human
intervention or instruction.

Machine-learning algorithms could be trained to

assist in:

• Decisions to ration supplies

• Identifying which individuals should receive critical
care
• Identifying when to discontinue certain
interventions
AI for Resource Allocation and
Prioritization
AI tools could also be used to guide allocation
of other scarce health resources.

For example, newly approved vaccines during

the COVID-19 pandemic, for which there was
an insufficient initial supply.

WHO / Blink media - Uma Bista

 You have now completed Unit 2
of Applications of AI for Health.

Next unit: AI in Health Research

and Drug Development.

WHO/Yoshi Shimizu