NEW DELHI: With people fearing losing their jobs to artificial intelligence, technology in the healthcare sector can certainly improve the quality of clinical decision-making, but it cannot replace doctors as human touch is required for holistic patient care and codes can not heal.
This was stated by Apollo Hospital Group’s joint managing director, Sangita Reddy, during the two-day 9th edition of the International Patient Safety Conference (IPSC) and the 10th International Conference on Transforming Healthcare with Information Technology (THIT), which started on Monday.
Interacting with members of the media, Reddy warned that doctors who use artificial intelligence may replace doctors who don’t work in the high-tech world driven by cutting-edge technology, but no one can replace human touch. “However, we need to stay abreast of new developments and strategies to use modern technologies and AI to provide the best possible healthcare services,” she added.
Earlier this month, Apollo Hospitals Group announced the launch of the Apollo Clinical Intelligence Engine (CIE), a clinical decision support tool aimed at increasing diagnostic accuracy, physician productivity and patient satisfaction.
The International Health Dialogue addressed critical patient safety issues, with global experts on the topic and more than 2,000 delegates from 30 countries attended the conference.
dr Prathap C. Reddy, Chair of the Apollo Hospitals Group, said, “The conference is our effort to stimulate discussion and debate, with an opportunity to effectively address issues between all stakeholders.”
This year’s THIT theme focuses on the ‘butterfly effect in action’, examining various aspects of digital health and accompanying standards and policies. It has been supported by various supporting partners and national organizations such as National Health Authority (Govt of India), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Indian Medical Association, leading universities and several other government organizations.
The conference is attended by organizations such as WHO, IITs, AIIMS Delhi, Indian Institute of Science, faculties of several foreign universities and established multinational companies. In addition, start-ups from Innovative Centers of Excellence working on Make in India for the World projects including digital health also presented their products.
