NHS to provide funds to reward the use of AI in health services

Healthcare providers will have additional resources to replace certain clinical tasks with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies, said the NHS England managing director.

Speaking at the Reform Health Conference on June 5, Simon Stevens is committed to considering reforming the NHS rate and other reimbursement payment systems in order to encourage the adoption of AI technologies throughout the health system.

Stevens said the changes will take effect from April 2020, which will allow NHS organizations to be "properly rewarded" for their investments in AI and machine learning. .

"We are witnessing a revolution in artificial intelligence that will occupy a prominent place in our future over the next five years, with technologies that allow patients to wait for scan results and lighten up the burden on employees, "he said. "We want the NHS to be the first to come out of the blocks.

"We are launching a global" call for evidence "for NHS staff and technology innovators to present their best ideas on how we should adjust our financial frameworks to better incentivize the use of automated, learning-based technologies. on the AI ​​and the machine the NHS. "

According to NHS England, the hospitals in the system offer more than 100 million outpatient appointments. One of the ambitions of the NHS long-term plan is to use AI and machine learning to help clinicians interpret the badyzes.

The two million bad cancer screening tests conducted each year in the UK, in which each outcome is reviewed by two clinicians, indicated NHS England, among other examples.

An AI system tested at London's Moorfields Eye Hospital was also mentioned, with the system making the right referral decision for more than 50 eye diseases with an accuracy of 94%.

In February, the government issued a code of conduct for the use of AI and other data-based technologies in the NHS. One of the objectives was to "ensure that the NHS receives a fair deal through the commercialization of its data resources".

Last year, Simon Eccles, head of clinical information for health and care at the NHS, said it was time to apply technologies such as AI in the health care system. health.

"The model of care [in the NHS] is the model of 1948 – the general practitioner in surgery, the doctor's office and the district nurse by car, the hospital with consultants and young doctors in white coat, "he said. "We do not use much AI in health care – and we should do it."