Benefits Strategy

Artificial Intelligence: Evolve Thinking, Accelerate Health and Well-being

The Innovation Showcase highlighted the potential for Artificial Intelligence (AI) to drive meaningful, measurable impact on employer-sponsored benefits.

December 13, 2023

A new offering for members of Business Group on Health, the Innovation Showcase series, introduces leading edge concepts, strategies and industry solutions with the goal of transforming employee health and well-being benefits through innovative approaches.

This first Innovation Showcase focused on the role of AI in health. It brought together an expert in health care information technology, “AI-first” innovator companies and employer leaders to discuss AI’s growing influence, current impact and potential future. The discussion offered insights into the current and future landscape of AI deployment in employer health and well-being strategies.

Several key themes and insights emerged from the Innovation Showcase discussion:

1 | Viewpoints of AI’s role in health and well-being vary widely

The Showcase began with a poll, which gauged the influence of AI on employer and health industry partner strategies. The poll revealed a diverse set of approaches toward the integration of AI into health and well-being initiatives. Among employer attendees, the responses were nearly evenly distributed across a spectrum, from AI being an integral of their strategy to having no role at all. For health industry partner attendees, AI is a consideration or element for all respondents.

2 | AI is a powerful tool, not a magic solution

To set the stage for the discussion, the Showcase featured insights from a longtime health information technology leader for multiple health systems and two presidential administrations. They emphasized that AI is a tool for pattern recognition and predictive analysis, not “magic.” AI's capability to process large datasets and variables far exceeds human capacity, offering transformative potential in various fields. The discussion underscored AI's role in enhancing human intelligence, not replacing it.

3| AI is already transforming disease detection and clinical efficiency

Health care vendors are incorporating AI into their tools to significantly reduce the time it takes to do backend clinical work and communicate with patients asynchronously. A growing number of companies are leveraging new research in AI to improve diagnostic accuracy and even predict patient-level risk for certain diseases.

AI as the ‘Waze of Health Care’

One speaker likened AI in health care to a "medical Waze," alluding to the widely used navigation app. They envision AI as a tool that can guide patient care from illness to health, foreseeing the most effective routes for enhancing health and facilitating recovery. This idea describes the potential for transforming millions of patient journeys into accurate and actionable insights for individuals.

4 | Newer “AI-First” companies lead with AI at their core, rather than as a backend facilitator

An “AI-first” company is one that focuses on continuously collecting and using data to improve predictive models, thereby automating core functions. These companies are part of a new wave adapting to changing market factors and AI capabilities, making AI not just a tool but a foundational aspect of their operational and strategic frameworks. Two companies at the Showcase presented examples of how an AI-first approach can be used for both HR and clinical innovation. One company uses AI to power tools for employee communications and HR team support, and the second uses advanced AI in radiomics to extract detailed insights from medical images, particularly for early breast cancer detection.

5 | AI can improve global efficiency, but there are many data challenges

Given the scope and diversity of approaches necessary for employers delivering comprehensive global benefits, AI tools have tremendous potential to help HR teams streamline and align benefits across countries. Importantly, however, any AI-powered backend or communications tools need to incorporate culturally sensitive nuances and ideally be trained on data collected globally.

6 | Deep scrutiny is warranted for AI-powered tools

As evidenced by the initial attendee poll, most health care vendors claim to use some level of AI to power their solutions. While AI’s uses are still evolving, it is here to stay and will become increasingly deployed. In assessing AI’s role in vendor solutions, employers should be aware that AI is an enabling tool, not an end in and of itself. Therefore, employers will need to continue to look at the actual results, potential and safety of an AI-powered vendor program, just as they did long before AI became part of the health care landscape.

7 | Training AI on diverse datasets is key for ethical AI deployment

The Showcase highlighted the critical need for large, diverse and unbiased datasets for training AI models. Without training AI algorithms against diverse patient datasets (including from people around the world), companies run the risk of exacerbating existing disparities across regions, socioeconomic status, racial and ethnic groups and other factors. Therefore, it’s important for employers to inquire about the comprehensiveness and diversity of the dataset used in training the AI tools provided by their vendors.

The discussions at the Showcase captured a fascinating dichotomy in perceptions of AI in health care: It's both overhyped as a force for rapid large-scale change and underestimated in its potential to revolutionize the human experience across the board. While some view AI with skepticism, fearing it could overshadow the human workforce or compromise data privacy, others recognize its potential for transformative innovations. This debate highlights the complex reality of AI – a technology still grappling with biases and ethical challenges yet holding immense promise to change the way that individuals and industries operate.

For access to a recording of the Showcase, please click here.