Fly on an aeroplane and there’s only a one in a million chance of an accident. In healthcare, one in 300 patients is harmed during their healthcare journey. Technology, says GE Healthcare’s Jan Beger, will improve this figure.

“We are a global innovator in medical technology, pharmaceutical diagnostics and digital solutions,” says Jan Beger, head of AI advocacy at GE Healthcare.

“We want to tackle the problems facing the healthcare sector, to help hospitals be more efficient, clinicians be more effective, therapies be more precise, and—hopefully—patients being healthier and happier.”

The role of AI

Beger believes that artificial intelligence has a key role to play in bringing about those positive outcomes.

“AI and machine learning can really make an impact in healthcare,” he says, identifying several areas where the technology can assist medical professionals, such as processing data and imaging.

With this in mind, Beger adds that it will be important to upscale healthcare professions to make the most of the new technology.

“In the foreseeable future, their workflows will be impacted by AI and digital technologies,” he says.

“We want to equip healthcare professionals with the skills they need to understand these technologies and to start building trust so that they can hopefully start jumping onto them, using them, playing around with them and seeing the benefits they offer.”

Find out more

GE Healthcare, Beger says, is currently running a programme to do just that. You can hear him talk more about it, as well as hear more fascinating insight into the increasing use of AI in healthcare in the third of Emerging Europe’s series of InnoStars Talks, hosted by Emerging Europe’s Andrew Wrobel and produced in association with EIT Health InnoStars.

Listen to the full episode on Spotify below or at Apple Podcasts: