While Australia has the potential to become a global leader in the application of AI in healthcare, the country still has much work to do to realize the full benefits of the technology.
The healthcare AI market is expected to do this grow to $1.78 billion by 2030 compared to $80 million last year. AI holds the key to a 'smarter, more adaptive healthcare system' in Australia that can withstand emerging demands such as the increasing complexity of diseases, the intensity of treatments and future pandemics.
The country may have the necessary elements to adopt AI in healthcare, including digital infrastructure, decades of research and a well-functioning healthcare system, but it is “currently unprepared” to address the opportunities and risks of an AI-based healthcare system to deal with. , according to the Australian Alliance for AI in Healthcare (AAAiH).
First, the current model for AI regulation was designed over thirty years ago, when the technology was still “single and predictable.”
The existing healthcare AI industry is relatively small compared to other developed countries: for example, the United States has approved more than 500 new AI-powered medical devices to date, while the UK government has approved a whopping £2.3 billion ($2.9 billion) in AI initiatives in recent years, including £250 million ($315 million) to accelerate the adoption of AI within the National Health Service.
Australia is also lagging behind in research investment for AI in healthcare; overall AI research capacity in healthcare lacks global competitiveness and R&D support is nowhere near that made available in other countries. Not a single AI clinical trial has been conducted in the country in the past five years, while local AI research has attracted only 0.9% of total government funding.
Given these limitations, the AAAiH has adopted the National Policy Roadmap for AI in Healthcare with the intention of bringing Australia up to par with other countries that have already made significant progress in AI investment and adoption in healthcare.
The first version of the roadmap was published two years ago. Since then, technological developments, including the introduction of generative AI, have prompted the alliance to once again convene stakeholders to update it. The new roadmap lays the foundation for maximizing the benefits of AI and offers sixteen recommendations in five priority areas:
- AI safety, quality, ethics and security
- Workforce
- Customer
- Industry
- Research
“AI offers us profound new capabilities to improve clinical diagnosis, treatment and workflows. From examination bench to clinical bedside and into the hands of patients, AI promises to make Australian healthcare a learning system that is more agile, adaptive, personalized, safe, effective and equitable,” the roadmap highlights.
The development of the roadmap was supported by Macquarie University, the CSIRO Australian eHealth Research Centre, RMIT University, the Digital Health Cooperative Research Center and the Australasian Institute of Digital Health.
ON THE RECORD
Among the pressing areas of AI in healthcare, governance must be high on the federal government's priorities, says Enrico Coiera, professor at Macquarie University and founder of the AAAiH. It says that governance must evolve from a 'certify once' model to 'one that ensures adaptive AI remains fit for purpose as it evolves'.
“Australia must act quickly to protect patients and support our healthcare and AI sectors, while reaping the benefits and mitigating the risks of AI,” he said in a press release.