Healthcare leaders meet to discuss the opportunities of AI

The event is part of an annual symposium led by Deakin's MBA Healthcare Management Program, a joint initiative of Deakin Business School and Deakin's School of Medicine.

Symposium speaker and Deakin health informatics expert Affiliate Associate Professor Paul Cooper will lead an exploration of what constitutes 'responsible use' of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare innovation.

"All stakeholders have different views on what constitutes 'responsible use'. For example, a health insurer or hospital might think being responsible means using AI to lower costs to achieve maximum value. Whereas a doctor might view responsible use through the lens of safety, and a patient might see it through the lens of access, equity and availability," Dr Cooper said.

"We must have mature conversations in health services about the use of AI. You can't take a zero-risk approach, that's not going to be possible, and won't give us the important benefits to be gained from working with AI."

Deakin academic and Chief Medical Informatics Officer at South West Healthcare, Affiliate Associate Professor Didir Imran said that while regulation was critical to keep patients safe, he agreed the sector must move from absolute risk aversion as a starting position, to a more exploratory and evidence-based outlook, which embraces the potential benefits from AI technology.

"There is already a gap developing between Australia and what other countries, such as the United States and the UK, are doing. If we stay with the conservative status quo that gap will only get bigger," Associate Professor Imran said.

"Australia has unique challenges in its healthcare system. A third of all Australians live in regional, rural and remote communities. These communities, often spread across vast geographic landscapes have poorer overall health outcomes and reduced access to quality health services compared to their metropolitan counterparts.

"To address persistent healthcare challenges like these, we need innovative and evidence-based approaches, which include harnessing the full potential of new technology like AI and health informatics."

Deakin's Healthcare Management Program includes a specialised MBA, a graduate certificate program, as well as a range of stackable units, all aimed at equipping healthcare managers with a wider complement of skills to tackle big problems. This week's symposium will include a masterclass taster on innovation and design thinking.

MBA Healthcare Management Symposium 2023
‘Leading Healthcare Innovations’

Friday 10 November, 9am to 3pm

Deakin Downtown, Tower 2 level 12/727 Collins St, Melbourne