The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed numerous weaknesses in healthcare systems across the EU, and AI is one of the solutions needed to ensure the survival and renewal of those systems in the years ahead.

That’s among the findings from a new report by EIT Health, a think tank funded by the European Union that studies the myriad ways IT can be used to transform and improve the healthcare systems of EU countries.

“The outcome of the AI Think Tank Report has given us clear and consistent messages on how to drive AI and technology forward within European healthcare systems,” Jan-Philipp Beck, CEO at EIT Health, said at the time of the report’s release. “We already know that AI has the potential to transform healthcare, but we need to work quickly and collaboratively to build it into current European healthcare structures. The challenge of the pandemic has undoubtedly helped accelerate growth, adoption and scaling of AI, as stakeholders have fought to deliver care both rapidly and remotely. However, this momentum needs to be maintained to ensure that benefits to healthcare systems are embedded long-term and help them to prepare for the future – something which will benefit all of us.”

Among the report’s key recommendations are improving collaboration and exchange of best practice across the EU, building on existing networks and infrastructures to support AI integration, improving education and skills, and developing value-based financial models that incorporates AI and acknowledges the longer-term cost saving.

EIT Health is also encouraging a more robust data infrastructure for Europe to ensure member states and healthcare systems can share data, which will in turn enable experts to track diseases, diagnose diseases faster and develop new AI-based solutions. 

Moreover, the report found that health workforce imbalances and shortages are a major concern in the European region and that there is a need to attract, train and retain more healthcare professionals.

The report notes that advances in AI and technology can be of great benefit to healthcare systems, and it points to data from a joint EIT Health and McKinsey and Company published in 2020 which suggested that AI automation could help alleviate workforce shortages, accelerate the research and developments of life-saving treatments, and help reduce the time spent on administrative tasks.

In short, said the report, countries and regions are fragmented in their approach, as are start-ups and the healthcare industry, and this is hindering uptake of AI and digital in healthcare systems across the EU. 

EIT Health will continue supporting institutions to adapt, and can play a key role in upskilling and reskilling the healthcare workforce.