Transforming patient care in Asia with intelligent automation  

Advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and robots can solve many challenges faced by the healthcare sector today. In Asia Pacific (APAC), interest in AI developments in healthcare has been growing as a response to global healthcare and economic trends, with countries in this region beginning to explore AI and robots to solve healthcare challenges and improve existing healthcare systems and workflows.

Technology has become increasingly integral, as hospitals around the world try to care for more patients with less staffing. In Southeast Asia for example, Changi General Hospital in Singapore is boosting productivity by deploying more than 50 robots to help automate work – from administrative duties to minimally invasive surgeries.

Zebra’s latest Global Healthcare Vision Study has highlighted the potential of AI improving outpatient care with more opportunities for remote consulting and diagnostics. Telehealth opportunities are growing, with a vast majority of hospitals across APAC currently exploring and trialing digital health solutions. In Singapore, reports have found that this figure stands at 94 per cent, while Australia and China have an 84 per cent and 89 per cent adoption rate respectively.

It is important for healthcare automation to be embraced without disrupting human touch. Patient care requires deep expertise and complex interactions irreplicable by technology. 

Key Healthcare Challenges in APAC 

By leveraging AI and robotics automation, the healthcare system can be made more efficient and impactful. Here are the key challenges facing the healthcare sector in APAC, which can be solved by automation:

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• Patient safety: According to the World Health Organization, insufficient and unsafe care remain common in Asia, particularly Southeast Asia, where 60 per cent of deaths from conditions amenable to healthcare result from poor quality care. Furthermore, medication errors are estimated to cost around US$42 billion each year in the region.

• Worker retention: Retaining healthcare professionals is increasingly challenging for hospitals in APAC, exacerbated by the worsening Covid-19 situation in the region. According to Zebra’s Global Healthcare Vision Study, approximately two-thirds of clinicians and 69 per cent of decision-makers agree that physicians and caregivers are overextended during their shifts, leading to fatigue and burnout of front-line workers.

• Workflow process: Healthcare workers have less automated workflows compared to front-line workers in other sectors. Nurses are constrained by heavy administrative tasks, compromising critical patient information relay to other care team members as a result. 

Harnessing the Power of AI at a Clinical Level

Fortunately, successful adoption of technology can address many of these challenges simultaneously. APAC is at the forefront of healthcare innovation, where 97 per cent of decision-makers and 83 per cent of clinicians surveyed in Zebra’s Global Healthcare Vision Study agree that technology helps prevent medical errors. Drug research and discovery, as well as clinical diagnosis, are a few of the recent applications for AI on a clinical level. In China, researchers have recently made a breakthrough with AI-driven drug research, which is expected to improve the current drug discovery process of 10-15 years. 

Operationally, AI can improve the resource management system of healthcare workers, increasing care capacity. One of the main issues hospitals face is a shortage of beds, with countries like India reporting a lack of beds and hospital equipment6, contributing to more deaths as patients were unable to receive timely treatment7. Hospitals must remain efficient if they want to treat as many patients as possible. AI can analyse data sets to predict surgery times and manage limited resources by sending automated machine-to-machine notifications to alert support staff to prepare for room turnover. 

AI integrations can also be applied across various Internet of Things (IoT) devices used in clinical environments to improve operational efficiency and enhance patient care. According to the same Zebra study, approximately 80 per cent of hospital executives surveyed plan to automate workflows in the next year to improve supply chain management, make it easier to locate critical equipment and medical assets, better orchestrate emergency rooms and operating rooms, and streamline staff scheduling.

For example, instead of constantly monitoring the medical devices in the hospital room to ensure optimal performance, hospital staff could utilise clinical mobile technologies to receive a reminder notification on their mobile devices to routinely check equipment. Similar prompts could be used to ensure frequent medical supplies restocking in rooms.

Furthermore, robotics automation solutions traditionally used in supply chain environments can now be extended to benefit the healthcare sector. Robots can be mobilised in hospitals to deliver the right supplies to the right care team members at the right time and location, allowing providers to focus on more imperative tasks. 

The Road Ahead

As the healthcare community continues its journey toward intelligent automation, expect to see AI-based staff scheduling solutions further developed and applied. In the future, a more mobile and flexible clinical team model can be achieved by using real-time and forecasted demand to achieve the right workload balance for healthcare workers. 

Steps will also be taken to enhance collaboration and communication between robots and front-line workers. Equipping these machines with enhanced intelligence will transform robots into valuable advisors and assistants who can monitor supplies and equipment availability, deliver meals to patients, and even assist with surgeries. 

It is now an opportune time to ride healthcare’s digital wave in APAC and merge the capabilities of AI and robots, turning the abundance of information into opportunities for more automated workflows and informed decision-making. By combining the respective strengths of analysis and mobility, AI can analyse all data available in healthcare information systems, electronic medical records, and edge devices to accurately instruct robots on the best next action – similar to how AI is used to guide front-line workers today.

With the assistance of automation, nurses will now be able to focus on providing better quality care to each patient. This, in turn, helps ensure one of healthcare’s foundational elements remains: the value of human touch. 

The writer is APAC Healthcare Practice Lead at Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific.