Future Health Index 2024, opinion leader: Ia improves healthcare assistance and quality

Innovations based on digitalization, artificial intelligence and data-driven approach they are the key elements to face the challenges of the Italian health system
including the staff shortagethe financial difficultiesthe increase in waiting lists and the growing request for care. It is the photography that emerges from the Future Health Index 2024the authoritative study on the global healthcare sector made with the unconditional contribution of Philips. Conducted among healthcare leaders in 14 countries including Italy – as stated in a note – the study explores the challenges and opportunities that healthcare facilities face in maintaining sustainable healthcare systems and rethinking new care paradigms.

“L’access to care – he claims Andrea Celli, Managing Director Philips Italy, Israel and Greece – is an essential and indispensable part of a well-functioning, equitable and sustainable healthcare system. But increasingly, staff shortages and financial pressures are leading to delays in care, with an increase in waiting lists and a decrease in the quality of care, with repercussions for both staff and patients. Thanks to digitalization, better data analysis and artificial intelligence – he underlines – healthcare leaders are increasingly automating workflows and using AI to support decision-making, to make diagnoses more precise and accurate. At Philips, we are committed to collaborating with healthcare providers in this transformation journey to create an increasingly digital, connected and accessible healthcare. A goal that can only be achieved in partnership, pooling skills and know-how from across the entire healthcare ecosystem”.

Most Italian health leaders recognize theThe strong impact of staff reduction on department activities. Burnout, stress, deterioration of work-life balance and staff morale are higher in Italy (88%) than in the rest of the world (66%) and Europe (71%), according to respondents. Nearly three-quarters of leaders (74%) also see staff abandoning their roles due to excessive workloads, further impacting care delivery. In this context, Automation is considered an ally to limit the impact of staff shortagesespecially to reduce daily administrative tasks (86%) and to manage repetitive tasks (81%), enhancing their skills (78%). In addition, 37% of respondents believe that virtual healthcare can help facilitate collaboration between healthcare professionals in different locations, improving patient care and reducing clinical response times.

Furthermore – the note continues – the insights provided by the data contain enormous potential to make the sector more efficient and to improve patient care, primarily in support of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures (57%), helping to reduce waiting lists, but also to optimize treatment pathways (54%) and to reduce hospital readmissions (35%). With the acceleration towards the implementation of the Electronic Health Record 2.0, among the measures financed by the PNRR funds allocated to healthcare, the interoperability of health data represents a challenge that can no longer be postponed for industry leaders: Interconnecting information within medical records and other platforms is a goal to achieve for 40% of respondents.

With a 35% growth in investments in 2023, artificial intelligence is a widespread reality, especially in radiology, where AI not only allows to accelerate the image acquisition process without artifacts and noise, avoiding repeating the exam, but can also support clinicians in the decision-making process. Among the areas where investments in AI are expected to support the decision-making process in the next 3 years, the following stand out: from solutions capable of making patient monitoring in hospital (38%) and remotely (41%), more efficient, to those that improve the prevention and identification of pathologies (38%). However, the sector also emphasizes the need to identify policies on the ethical use of data and AI: for about half of Italian leaders it is essential not only to invest in training and education on a constant basis (55%), but also to make artificial intelligence more transparent and interpretable (49%), demonstrating that they are in line with the premises of the Ai Act recently approved by the European Parliament and with the bill proposed by the Council of Ministers.

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In the end, Responsible for over 4% of global CO2 emissions, more than the aviation and transportation industries, the healthcare sector cannot strive for efficiency without working to reduce its environmental impact. A sensitivity felt by 83% of respondents, who consider sustainability an absolute priority for healthcare organizations. The actions already undertaken concern above all waste reduction (45%), the elimination of hazardous substances (39%) and energy efficiency (32%), the latter considered a strategy to be implemented in their facilities in the next three years by 42% of industry leaders.

Sustainabilitymoreover, represents an increasingly decisive theme also in purchasing: 46% declare that they want to select suppliers with sustainability targets and initiatives and to favor the purchase of more sustainable equipment also in terms of circular economy (44%). A sensitivity shared in particular with health tech companies, which for almost a third (32%) of Italian leaders play a key role in improving the timeliness and quality of assistance, in addition to government institutions (55%).

“It is encouraging – Celli observes – to note that the vast majority of Italian healthcare leaders involved in the study recognize that reducing the environmental impact of healthcare systems should be a top priority. However, many of them are facing unprecedented challenges. This demonstrates the urgency of adopting technological solutions that are both innovative and sustainable and – he concludes – contribute to reducing the costs of care”.