Insertable monitors can help doctors keep tabs on their patients by sending them important heart rhythm data that is being gathered 24/7. But who has time to sort through all that monitoring data?

The answer: artificial intelligence.

Helping doctors monitor and diagnose patients is just one of the many beneficial applications of AI in healthcare today. A new survey from Medtronic indicates that most Americans feel optimistic about AI’s potential to improve healthcare, especially when used as a diagnostic tool.

As with any disruptive technology, there is some skepticism about the use of AI in healthcare, sentiment shared by some of the 2,200 people who responded by our survey.

“While it’s natural to have questions about AI in healthcare, we are already leaning into and learning from its power and providing solutions as a company that empower clinicians to provide more accurate, personalized, and efficient care to all patients,” said Ken Washington, chief technology and innovation officer at Medtronic.

An AI ‘breakthrough’ in heart monitoring

Much of Americans’ optimism about AI in healthcare is focused on its potential to help doctors diagnose diseases, faster and easier than they could without it.

It’s not hype.

At Medtronic, we’ve developed deep-learning algorithms that can help doctors better determine the accuracy of alerts from our insertable cardiac monitors, which are used by patients with abnormal heart rhythms.

The algorithms, which are applied through the cloud, have been shown to reduce false alerts by 91 percent.¹ And when healthcare professionals can reduce the amount of time spent on responding to false alerts, they have more time to spend on patient care.

Just this year, this technology was named “Best New Monitoring Solution” by an organization tracking scientific breakthroughs within the healthcare technology industry.

Ethical AI or bust

The survey also shows that while Americans recognize the benefits of AI in healthcare, many remain cautious. In fact, one-third (36%) of survey respondents said they would prefer to work with a physician who uses AI, and only one-in-five (20%) would want their doctor to use AI extensively.

Recently, many politicians, business leaders, and technology officials have urged a “go slow” approach with AI, citing privacy and ethical concerns.

Medtronic recognizes those concerns and this year publicly committed to the safe and ethical use of AI.

For more information about the Medtronic poll, please go here.

Citations

Radtke A, Hall M. AccuRhythm AI AF & Pause Algorithms White Paper. April 2023. Medtronic data on file.

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