Hyd: AI to transform healthcare but cannot replace doctors: Dr Nageshwar Reddy
Hyderabad, July 3 (TNT): Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to make healthcare more accessible, affordable and efficient, but it should be viewed as a tool to assist doctors rather than replace them, AIG Hospitals Chairman and world-renowned and highly reputed Gastroenterologist, Dr D. Nageshwar Reddy said on Friday.
Delivering the 16th Foundation Day Lecture of the ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education  on the topic “Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Healthcare”, Dr Reddy said medicine has always been a combination of empathy and intelligence, and AI would augment healthcare professionals by improving diagnosis, treatment and patient care.
He said AI is transforming drug discovery, radiology, telemedicine, precision medicine, genomics, cancer detection, dermatology and remote patient monitoring. The technology has reduced drug discovery timelines from decades to about two years and is expected to significantly reshape pharmaceutical research over the next decade.
Referring to concerns among doctors over AI, Dr Reddy remarked, “AI will not replace doctors, but doctors who know how to use AI will replace those who don’t.”
Citing examples from AIG Hospitals, he said the hospital has developed MIRA, an AI-powered Medical Information Robotic Assistant that supports doctors and nurses, answers patient queries and reduces consultation waiting time.
He also highlighted iSAVE, an AI-based early warning system that continuously monitors critically ill patients and alerts doctors well before a patient’s condition deteriorates.
Dr Reddy said AI has also streamlined pre-anaesthesia evaluation at AIG Hospitals, reducing surgery dropout rates from nearly 20 per cent to about one per cent, while improving operational efficiency in its high-volume endoscopy unit, which performs around 700 procedures daily.
He said AI was also enabling affordable screening for fatty liver disease, improving early cancer detection through CT scan analysis and facilitating AI-enabled clinical documentation, allowing doctors to spend more time with patients.
However, he stressed that issues relating to data quality, ethics, privacy and regulation must be addressed as AI adoption expands.
Concluding his address, Dr Reddy said responsible and ethical use of AI could democratise healthcare by extending quality medical services to millions of people who currently lack access.
ICFAI Chancellor Dr C. Rangarajan, who presided over the function, said AI remains in its early stages and its long-term impact is yet to unfold.
While acknowledging its transformative potential in education and healthcare, he stressed that the technology must be used responsibly so that its benefits become accessible to all sections of society.
TNT TS
