Artificial intelligence: the technology trend that will most affect healthcare in 2024

• Personalised medicine through DNA analysis will be a key trend this year.
• 2.7 billion people around the world own a smartphone, and with 52% of all global web traffic taking place on mobile devices, demand for mobile health services is expected to rise.

Santo Domingo: Artificial intelligence (AI) will have multiple impacts on the health sector. These are expected to include greater efficiency and effectiveness in diagnosis, especially in reading medical images such as X-rays and MRI scans, where AI algorithms can detect conditions that might go unnoticed by the human eye.

For Fedor Vidal, CEO of Arium Salud Digital, AI will also give a decisive boost to personalised, patient-centred medicine by analysing large clinical data sets to identify trends and patterns that can guide the development and delivery of individualised treatments through DNA analysis.

According to the digital health expert, this is because last year saw a significant increase in companies offering DNA analysis, many of them offering whole genome sequencing, which is helping to expand databases of genetic information.

Vidal says AI will also have a significant impact on robotic surgery, improving the precision and efficiency of surgical procedures. Finally, cybersecurity and patient data protection will be key areas where AI will be used to strengthen defences against cyber threats and ensure the confidentiality of medical information.

“Although there is still a long way to go before many AI-related technologies can be used widely, this year there will be a notable emphasis on creating algorithms for the early detection of disease,” said Vidal, who also created the Latin American Digital Health Congress in the Dominican Republic.

He added that another area that will continue to develop is virtual assistance, mainly for populations with specific diseases, as will telemedicine, which is evolving into telemedicine 2.0, with fundamental advances in remote patient management, especially for older people and patients at home.

This includes features such as: electronic scheduling, automated insurance validation and chatbots for booking appointments and consultations, as well as remote telemedicine and remote second opinions.

Progress in digital transformation in the Dominican Republic in 2024:

He noted that in the Dominican Republic there has been a welcome increase in the adoption of new technologies as a gateway to healthcare centres, allowing greater accessibility and self-management by patients.

In addition, a digital transformation is under way in healthcare centres, with growing recognition of the importance of technology in clinical and administrative operations.

Although no radical decisions are yet being taken on changes to core systems, preliminary analyses and assessments of the potential impact of digitalisation are being carried out, said Vidal.

Interoperability, at both national and local level, is improving, with greater emphasis on standardising systems and sharing clinical information between providers and health systems.

Although telemedicine has been adopted more slowly in the country, there has been an increase in remote first consultations, especially for health tourism.

For the expert, overall, 2024 promises to be a period of intense activity in the digital transformation of the health sector in the Dominican Republic, laying the foundations for further progress and positioning in health digitalisation.