By David Graff, AAU Communication & Public Affairs 

"Denmark has one of the world's most expensive health systems, and the requirements for what the system must be able to perform only seem to be growing, partly due to the increasing number of elderly people." 

So says Professor Izabela Ewa Nielsen, who, together with the rest of the editorial team behind the white paper Better Living – World-Class Health in Denmark by Smart Use of Data and Technology from ATV, has wanted to contribute to setting the direction for the healthcare system of the future.

The white paper presents concrete recommendations on how digitalisation, artificial intelligence and automation can strengthen the quality, efficiency and sustainability of the Danish healthcare system. 

One of the areas where the potential is particularly great, according to Izabela Ewa Nielsen, is the use of artificial intelligence (AI). She believes that AI can become a key factor in the work to create a more patient-centred and efficient healthcare system and thus realise several of the visions that the white paper points to.

AI must be incorporated

AI has already taken over many societal functions, and according to Izabela Ewa Nielsen, this will also happen in the health sector, where AI can lead to more patient-centred care: 

"AI can play a significant role in all phases of a patient pathway, from prevention to screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up, by virtue of its capacity to analyse large amounts of data quickly. This can be expressed, for example, as virtual doctors and AI assistants that strengthen patients' self-care and reduce administrative tasks," Izabela Ewa Nielsen assesses.   

ATV and Izabela Ewa Nielsen admit that there may be challenges, for example in relation to ensuring a good and seamless division of tasks between AI and healthcare professionals.

"However, there is nothing to indicate that there will be a need for fewer hands in the health system – quite the opposite. And the idea of AI in the healthcare system is actually to help manage a growing workload, so that healthcare professionals have greater job satisfaction and more time for core tasks," Izabela Ewa Nielsen elaborates. 

"In the end, we all benefit if costs are lowered in the healthcare system, while the quality is higher by virtue of the better decision support and the fewer errors that more AI and automation could cause," she adds.

Automation frees up time and resources

Izabela Ewa Nielsen points out that there is also a large and untapped potential in automation, especially when it comes to freeing up time and resources for patient-oriented care.

"It is obvious to make more use of automation in order to reduce human error, improve diagnostics and streamline operations. The high complexity and regulation of the healthcare system make it difficult, but the potential is really huge," she explains.  

In the same way, with the use of digital twins, it is possible to simulate patient pathways, test different treatment strategies and analyse the use of resources in real time in order to find opportunities for optimisation.

"Overall, we believe that increased AI and automation are crucial to handle the demographic changes, the shortage of labour and the increasing pressure on the healthcare system," concludes Izabela Ewa Nielsen.