Igniting Progress: Empowering Healthcare via the European Health Data Space and AI - press release
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- Nadrzędna kategoria: ROOT
- Kategoria: Nowości
- Opublikowano: środa, 04.10.2023, 21:22
- Odsłony: 561
Brussels, 4 October 2023
Igniting Progress: Empowering Healthcare via the European Health Data Space and AI unveils a pivotal set of recommendations set to steer the future of healthcare. These insights will be showcased across several meetings, with a session in Modena today on October 4, 2023. Aimed at establishing a functional framework, these guidelines will expedite the integration of new AI and data analytics tools within the European Health Data Space, propelling advancements, and innovation in the sector. “Healthcare could be significantly enabled by usage of high-quality data and modern artificial intelligence technologies,” said Andrea Pescino, Partner and founder, StratejAI, who coordinated the Recommendations presented today by The Healthcare Data Innovation Council. The report draws on the contribution of representatives of the healthcare community, from AI experts, industry and European institutions, clinicians, patients, researchers, pharma, technology providers and MedTech companies who kickstarted the discussion at a hybrid conference: Healthcare in the era of AI (https://healthdatainnovation.eu/healthcare-in-the-era-of-ai/), held in Zurich on May 31. “We need to create spaces to research and interact with the healthcare world to promote those approaches and create value for the industry” he added. He stressed that today, the rapid evolution of the foundational model in Artificial Intelligence, together with increasing awareness and investments, can enables applications where most needed by society.
The Recommendations focus on opportunities to advance research, treatment, and care, maximise benefits for patients and reduce risks in a fast-evolving scenario driven by AI, as well as prevention and prediction using data. Drawbacks are also pointed out, such as the fragmented regulatory setting; the practical and incumbent needs of different stakeholders’ groups; the lack of clear language on secondary use of data; the risk of stifling research and development with additional regulatory barriers. “The EHDS is a regulation in the pipeline. It is to be welcomed as it will promote a national and trans-European ecosystem of data spaces for secondary uses” said Ricard Martinez, Chair of Privacy and Digital Transformation, University of Valencia speaking at the event. However, he warned that critical judgement is required to ensure that the law is consistent with scientific methodology. “If we fall into the trap of regulating science on the basis of data protection instead of defining how to guarantee rights in scientific research, we could end up putting up barriers to health research in the European Union. Scientists and legal experts must honestly warn about the risks and propose improvements,” he said.
Today, the healthcare industry generates 30% of the world’s data volume, this percentage is expected to increase faster than in manufacturing, financial services and media and entertainment.[1] The European Health Data Space framework will significantly impact healthcare systems in the continent, maximising the value that can be derived from health data. AI has a strong transformative power in healthcare as it brings the data to life and translates weak signals into actionable insights. Thanks to current technologies, healthcare spending could be reduced by 5-10% annually.[2] AI could support tasks performed at all levels, from education to research, to clinical practice, to administration.
Efficient adoption of AI generates an incredible competitive advantage for the organisation and the population it serves, as illustrated by case studies presented at the conference:
- AI4BetterHearts: revolutionary partnership takes on global cardiovascular crisis, harnessing the power of data and AI. AI4BetterHearts is the first global data collaborative for cardiovascular diseases aiming at improving population health using AI and advanced analytics, to support decision making, advance preventive and predictive health. Novartis Foundation, Microsoft, and Accenture established this new type of partnership, a data collaborative, where data from various sources such as hospitals and primary care, are pooled together, and collective expertise is leveraged to derive insights and address complex challenges.
- AIDA: the lighthouse for data spaces adoption in prevention and early diagnosis of gastric cancer (GC). With the emergence of the European Health Data Space framework, AIDA is one of the few lighthouses for the adoption and implementation of innovative conceptual models of data sharing across many countries: the data collaborative.
“The AIDA project, An Artificially Intelligent Diagnostic Assistant for gastric inflammation, is an example of how AI could be efficiently applied to leverage the knowledge in risk factors and pre-cancer lesions for gastric cancer prevention. This project will allow to identify people at risk and put them in a monitoring programme that could save their life” said Tania Fleitas Kanonnikoff, MD, Medical Oncology Department, INCLIVA.
According to Gabriel Lopez, Government Affairs Director, Microsoft “AI has revolutionized the healthcare sector, offering immense benefits. It enables accurate diagnosis, personalized treatment plans, and improved patient outcomes. AI-powered algorithms analyse vast amounts of medical data, aiding in early detection of diseases and predicting patient risks”, he said, highlighting the crucial role in this process of The Healthcare Data Innovation Council. “By fostering collaboration between healthcare providers, researchers, and AI experts, the Council ensures the ethical and secure use of health data, promoting innovation and advancing healthcare delivery. Together, AI and the health data pave the way for a brighter and healthier future,” he said.
“Having a holistic understanding of healthcare and being able to link various data points can increase efficiency and lower costs. Data can change health and AI has the potential to be a catalyst for the digital transformation of the health sector. The condition is that data sharing systems are created so that real insights can be derived with the help of AI”, said Meni Styliadou, VP Distinguished Fellow, Data Science Institute, Takeda and Founder & Co-Lead, H2O.
When research and innovation move faster than policy, appropriate and comprehensive regulations are often delayed. Recent developments on the AI Act brings the European proposed law a step closer to a global standard for data quality, transparency, human oversight, accountability and ethical requirements. However, takeholders are concerned that the Act will become an additional regulatory barrier to the market for medical devices using AI. Alignment with existing regulations is crucial to foster larger implementation and solidification of emerging technologies. "Data ecosystems and AI models are already being created, but they need to be promoted and sustained effectively, to become a crucial part of national and regional strategies” said Stefano Sedola, Co-founder and partner, StratejAI
The Recommendations highlight emerging ways of leveraging on the data and the ripple effect generated when sharing experiences. “The pace of technological development allows us to process massive amounts of data in minutes, extracting exceptional knowledge and insights that would have taken decades just a few years ago. With the Healthcare Data Innovation Council, we aim to bring together views, and testimonials from patients, researchers, clinicians, healthcare providers, governments to reap the benefits of this revolution” concluded Stefano Sedola.
GdL 10/2023