Healthcare barometer 03/2024: Artificial intelligence in the healthcare sector

Technological advances have always changed the healthcare system and advanced it for the benefit of patients. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize it.

The use of AI in various areas of the healthcare sector can improve the quality of patient care, increase efficiency and advance medical research. AI-supported, precise diagnostic procedures enable better (early) detection of diseases. Customized treatment plans, tailored to the specific needs and genetic profiles of patients, are an important step towards personalized medicine. And the automation of administrative tasks helps to reduce the workload of medical professionals.

In order to use the numerous possibilities of AI in the healthcare sector to the benefit of patients, insured persons and employees, institutions and organizations in the sector should pursue a clear strategy for implementing AI solutions.

Since people are at the center of healthcare like in hardly any other industry, aspects such as data and privacy protection, data security, ethical concerns and the responsible use of AI solutions and the use of health data must be considered.

Due to the outstanding importance of artificial intelligence for the healthcare sector, the current edition of our healthcare barometer looks at different ways of using AI. We spoke to experts from various areas of the healthcare sector about their experiences with specific AI projects and their expectations for the future use of the technology.

• Jan Beger, Head of AI Advocacy at GE HealthCare, explains how artificial intelligence can be used to manage large amounts of data and thus contribute to better patient care.

• The key to a patient-centered future of medicine is the use of modern technologies. This is the view of Michael Sahnau, Director Healthcare & Life Sciences at Microsoft Germany. He explains how the interplay of AI and the cloud can be used to design efficient and personalized healthcare services in harmony with people.

• Prof. Dr. Sylvia Thun, Director of Digital Medicine and Interoperability at the Berlin Institute of Health Research at Charité, outlines the path to a networked healthcare system and explains the role of artificial intelligence in precision medicine.

• Christian Albrecht explains how innovative hospital information software is transforming the healthcare system with artificial intelligence and data quality. He is co-founder of the health tech start-up Avelios Medical, which developed the AI-supported software.

• Dr. Verena Benz, Health & Pharma Officer at Bitkom e. V., and Lucy Czachowski, Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Officer at Bitkom e. V., will provide information on the potential of artificial intelligence, political measures and the next steps towards modern healthcare.  

• Learning with AI: Katrin Siems, Member of the Thieme Management Board and Head of the AI@Thieme task force, and Dr. Jörg Munck, Senior Vice President Strategic Projects & New Business at Thieme, present new approaches to medical training using immersive learning formats.

• Prof. Dr. Ganten, Founding President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Virchow Foundation for Global Health, explains the future prospects of medicine in an international context and why global health needs to be rethought.

• Christian Bredl, Head of the Bavarian regional office of Techniker Krankenkasse, describes how artificial intelligence can be used in administrative processes in the healthcare sector to improve the quality of service for policyholders.

In the latest healthcare barometer, which you can download now, you can also read a guest article by experts from KPMG Law about the opportunities, risks and legal requirements for the use of AI in everyday clinical practice. You will also find the results of our survey on the topic of "Influence of the Care Support and Relief Act on the care of relatives".