From the July 2017 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

For two decades, the father of disruptive innovation theory, Clayton Christensen, has stated that industries and organizations that fail to seize disruptive opportunities are at risk of being disrupted themselves. Health care has traditionally felt insulated from these forces, but the industry will not benefit from ignoring the power of digital. Many new disruptive technologies, including artificial intelligence and the rapidly emerging science of deep learning, will begin to enter the health care arena in the next few years. Clinicians have the chance to grab the baton and partner with industry to architect these tools in a way that will bring the greatest value to clinical practice, their referring physicians and the patients they serve. Why sit back and wait to get involved?

Define and drive the change
In theory, once digital technology has been recognized, prioritized and seamlessly embedded into clinical practice, true value will be created. While health care has yet to cross this threshold, other industries have successfully reached this point, with remarkable results. Think of the usual suspects: Amazon, Google, Apple and Uber. Health care is at the cusp of unleashing new value through multiple channels, including value-based reimbursement, population health management, personalized medicine and AI. Google is asking drivers to consider what value they can generate when they no longer need to focus on the task of driving. Likewise, health care professionals should reflect on what additional value they can contribute when routine tasks become augmented, and even fully automated.



Digital has changed the landscape of health care since the early days of my radiology training. More change will come. As a former physician now working in industry, I’m convinced that success for this next wave of health care’s digital revolution must be shaped by and with clinical champions. For cloud technology to become an enabler for collaboration, for analytics to become a driver of actionable insights, and for AI to become an eliminator of mundane work, be the leader of change.

About the author: Dr. Chris Austin is the clinical director of artificial intelligence and imaging analytics at GE Healthcare. Dr. Austin is responsible for leveraging the company's deep capabilities in diagnostic imaging equipment, software and services to design and implement digital solutions across the business. Dr. Austin is working on GE Healthcare's deep learning partnerships, working with academic partners to architect and validate applications that have the potential to enhance the productivity of clinicians and the quality of patient care across the globe.

Back to HCB News

July 2017 Magazine

Read more stories from the July 2017 issue

Health IT Homepage