There’s Too Much Oversimplification About AI in Healthcare
That’s the view of Wouter Kroese, CEO of the Dutch AI company Pacmed, as shared in the Voorzorg podcast. While he welcomes the fact that Minister Fleur Agema is an advocate for AI, Kroese speaks from experience about the challenges of scaling successful applications in the Netherlands.
“I’m very pleased that the minister is voicing her support for AI in healthcare and is looking toward the future rather than clinging to the past,” Kroese says in the Voorzorg podcast. Agema aims to reduce the administrative burden in healthcare through AI, a potential Kroese also recognizes. “It can save healthcare professionals a lot of time, but everything tends to be lumped together under the term ‘AI.’ Using a language model like ChatGPT to process text is fundamentally different from what we do—generating new knowledge about quality care in intensive care units (ICUs).”
Scaling Up
Pacmed's software is currently being implemented in ICUs within the Santeon hospital network and is also gaining interest outside this collaboration. However, the scaling process, while underway, faces unnecessary hurdles, Kroese observes. This is partly due to a lack of knowledge among hospital administrators and a typically Dutch tendency to reinvent the wheel—often slightly differently each time. Additionally, there’s sometimes a lack of a well-thought-out vision.
Kroese explains: “Every strategic document now mentions AI, but it’s often treated too simplistically, as though AI is the solution to everything.”
In the podcast, Kroese delves into the obstacles Pacmed has overcome to scale its solutions, his optimism about the next generation of healthcare leaders, and the company’s future plans.
Listen to the full podcast here:
: ''Podcast Voorzorg: Pacmed-Ceo Wouter Kroese over AI opschalen in de zorg''
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