Leading U.S. health, educational and research organizations have come together with the creation of a group aimed at accelerating artificial intelligence innovation and adoption in healthcare, Microsoft announced Thursday.
The Artificial Intelligence Industry Innovation Coalition (AI3C) will leverage the collective brainpower, experience and expertise of the Brookings Institution, Cleveland Clinic, Duke Health, Intermountain Healthcare, Microsoft, Novant Health, Plug and Play, Providence, UC San Diego, and University of Virginia.
From diagnosing and treating disease to addressing disparities in care, overcoming social barriers, speeding research and reducing physician burnout, artificial intelligence has the power to overhaul healthcare, according to leaders of the new coalition.
To get there, AI3C is honing in on some core goals. Those include showcasing new AI innovations, gathering industry-specific information on how AI is used, developing best practices for responsible AI implementation and preparing students for careers in AI and data science.
“Meeting the urgent need for new health technologies requires diverse partners coming together across sectors,” Ashley Llorens, vice president and managing director for Microsoft Research and Incubations, said in a news release announcing the coalition. “With perspectives from AI practitioners, healthcare professionals and the research community, the AI3C can guide collaborative projects that accelerate the translation of frontier technologies from research to solution development, to implementation.”
The coalition will also be seeking to resolve significant economic and industrial challenges, improve people’s digital skills and employability, transform the workforce in a way that reduces clinical fatigue, and improve data access and privacy.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
AI’s transformational power extends to other industries, like financial services. AI3C inception follows the creation of another Microsoft-affiliated AI coalition focused on that sector in December 2020.
The group will also develop white papers to engage the broader healthcare community in advancing AI innovation and application, and host quarterly meetings and events to provide updates on progress. It will provide more details on the coalition’s programs and how it’s making an impact later this year.
“AI in healthcare provides us powerful tools to address systemic challenges by identifying true root causes,” Shamyla Lando, chief technology officer at Duke Health, said in a statement noting the organization’s commitment to eliminating inequities in clinical care. “AI will empower us to redesign the care delivery system at the population level and I look forward to creating health equity for our generation and future generations.”
Photo: MF3d, Getty Images
