Round Table Series 2020 – Overview and agenda
In March 2020, a joint report between EIT Health and McKinsey & Company ‘Transforming healthcare with AI: the impact on the workforce and organisations’ was launched which aimed to contribute to the debate surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare but going a step further in helping define the impact of AI on healthcare professionals (HCPs), and the implications of introducing and scaling AI for healthcare organisations and healthcare systems across Europe.
With AI in healthcare being a fast-moving field, the report provided a unique vantage point from the frontline of healthcare delivery and innovation today and the latest view from a wide array of stakeholders on AI’s potential, the real state of play today, and what is holding us back from widespread uptake and adoption.
As the report took a broad pan-European perspective, identifying levers for change at the personnel, infrastructural and environmental levels, further exploration of how these findings and recommendations could be translated at the national level was warranted.
National-level decision makers representing key stakeholders that play a role in developing and implementing AI approaches at scale within existing national healthcare systems provided opinion and potential solutions that could be applied to support HCPs to fully embrace the potential of AI.
Objectives for the Round Table Meetings
In each of our seven locations, reviewing the national infrastructural context, educational and health systemic structure, we aimed to:
- Validate the relevant barriers and enablers as indicated within the report for the successful adoption of AI at the Member State (MS) level, whilst also identifying similarities and differences between countries
- Identify how to improve the ‘on the ground’ impact of AI, by specifying obstacles to overcome and opportunities to maximise within the defined domains
- Outline a national (MS level) ‘plan-of-action’, indicating individuals, organisations, bodies or other relevant vehicles to accelerate and expedite integration of AI to drive workforce capability and organisational receptivity.
In addition, we looked at the role the EU could play in supporting frameworks that can encourage greater adoption of AI in healthcare.
Round Table Series agenda
Each Round Table Meeting followed the same agenda focussing on the six domain areas identified as levers for change:
- Clinical leadership
- Rethinking education and skills and investment in new roles and talent
- Regulation and policy making
- Funding and reimbursement
- Strengthening data quality, governance, security and interoperability
- Liability and managing risk.
Participants debated the following questions to help identify potential pathways for progression:
- How are the findings from the joint EIT Health and McKinsey report – Transforming healthcare with AI – reflected in the national picture?
- In light of the discussion, what actionable recommendations can be proposed?
- Is the desired change best driven or relevant at the national (Member State) or EU level?
The key discussions and outcomes of these Round Table Meetings have been made available to you through the various rooms available in this Hub, as well as in our downloadable summary report – ‘Healthcare Workforce and Organisational Transformation with AI‘.