[Me & X] Healthcare vs sickcare
X : Can I show you the work we're doing on using AI in healthcare?
Me : I'm sure it's fascinating but I have little interest.
X : You're not interested in healthcare?
Me : Yes, I'm interested in UK healthcare but we don't really have healthcare systems (which make people healthy) and instead we have more sickcare systems (which treat symptoms). Show me your work on measuring health outcomes, auditing against PROMs (patient reported outcome measures) and sharing of medical data ... we don't do enough of this. Those are the things that interest me and not the use of AI.
X : AI in healthcare is a huge industry, expected to reach $500 billion by 2035. Why are you ignoring it?
Me : Because it's not about healthcare, it's about sickcare. Yes, I'm sure it's going to be worth lots of money and create a vibrant market. However, my interest is in how do you turn a sickcare system into a healthcare system.
X : What's that worth?
Me : From a market perspective? Almost nothing, hence it's never prioritised. From a social perspective? Everything. There is nothing more important.
X : But if the market won't invest in it, what's the point?
Me : This is the role of Government, the purpose of Government investment, where our "moonshots" should be focused. The market will always look to maximise profitability from a market perspective. Our Government should be focused on balancing this with what society needs.
X : Looking at your table, personalised medicine, preventative healthcare and well being seem like positive things. The market has it right!
Me : Since we don't meaningfully measure health outcomes (except in a few places like hip operations), and we barely touch upon the social determinants of health then we don't actually have a good idea on what makes a person healthy. Yes, there is an entire market selling you stuff, if you can afford it. In the meantime, people turn up to surgery, get treated for symptoms and are sent back to the same environment that made them sick in the first place. Doctors know they have their "repeat" patients they will be seeing again. No amount of investment in AI is going to fix that.
X : If it was important, we would be doing something about it.
Me : We've certainly had people raise it and every now and then there are reports written but the blunt reality is the market doesn't value healthcare, it values sickcare. That's where the pressure is and AI is good for sickcare. I'm just not interested.
X : Who wrote those tables?
Me : A bunch of doctors, nurses and healthcare people who used maps to examine the concept of healthcare. I've done this for education, construction and about 17 other industries. We have a tendency to focus on what the market wants, not what society needs.
X : How do you fix that?
Me : You can't with a constant pursuit of market growth as the solution to all our problems.
Originally published on LinkedIn.