AI in Healthcare: A Powerful Tool, But Not the Cure for Ontario’s Healthcare Worker Shortage Crisis
Ontario’s healthcare system is failing to meet the needs of Ontarians. There are burnt-out healthcare professionals, hallway medicine—all due to a healthcare worker shortage, worsening patient outcomes. A report predicts that by 2032, there will be an 80,000-healthcare worker shortfall. Since 2018, 250 000 patients are on surgery waiting lists, 50,000 waiting for long-term beds, and a 125 per cent increase in patients on stretchers, making it hard to imagine the future of healthcare.
The Registered Nurses Association of Ontario demands urgent action to recruit more nurses and have ‘staffed beds’—hospital beds with nurses available to support patients. Many patients are treated in the hallway, paying the price with subpar care.
This province-wide crisis affects everyone. We must demand better waiting times, well-rested workers, and a stop to hallway medicine. In a perfect world, there would be more health care professionals. With budget and resource constraints, this crisis is more complex than it seems.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has gained popularity in healthcare and can help improve patient outcomes and reduce stress on workers. It performs administrative tasks, provides early warnings for inpatients, and offers patient recommendations.
Grand River Hospital in Waterloo partners with Signal 1, a Canadian technology company, which incorporates an AI platform that aids clinicians with analyzing patient data. Predictions identify which patients are most at risk and require a higher level of care. This platform was created with the intent to aid a multidisciplinary care team rather than replace an expertise.
St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto began using an AI early warning system called ChartWatch in 2020. This tool flags adverse results and predicts deaths or serious illness, altering nurses for earlier intervention which saves lives. Access to real-time data improves preventative steps, reduces patient waiting times, and lowers costs among facilities. Because ChartWatch performs assessments, doctors can focus on diagnosing and treating patients, rather than assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients, which has led to a 26 per cent drop in unexpected deaths.
In addition to ChartWatch, other AI tools are effective at providing recommendations, decision support, risk identification, and data extraction. In a study done with physicians using AI to derive information about health factors, results show that AI reduces the time required to collect data, enabling clinicians to focus more on clinical practice.
Shorter waiting times mean less discomfort and more personalized care, making the patient feel like more than just a number. AI also eliminates clinician bias and alleviates stress for patients regarding uncomfortable questions. Predictions suggest that AI will soon include radiology products and be able to predict infections.
Despite AI’s power, concerns remain regarding knowledge gaps, mistakes, and data exposure. Much is unknown about AI’s development, implementation and evaluation, along with complications from algorithm bias and unintended exposure of patient information.
AI mistakes can increase clinician stress. Errors result in misdiagnosis, ultimately harming the ones we should be helping. Many variables influence diagnosing a patient, and AI does not always account for personalized restrictions. Patient data privacy and legal security remain concerns.
In a September 2020 study done on healthcare workers’ opinion on AI, many expressed that the patient-practitioner relationship is critical to patient care and AI will never replace the complex interactions required for accurate diagnoses and personalized treatments. Due to ongoing concerns, AI should be placed in the background as an assistive tool because it cannot replace the complex role of a healthcare worker.
AI does not solve the healthcare worker shortage crisis. AI can indirectly reduce waiting times, allowing clinicians to devote more time to patient care. However AI is a tool, not a teammate. Its limitations can make critical mistakes that a clinician typically would not.
While solving the healthcare worker shortage will not be immediate, that should not scare us from taking action. AI does help reduce strain on the system, but investing in staffing to improve working conditions is a step in the right direction towards ending hallway medicine, resulting in a better future for everyone.
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