GE Healthcare and Partners HealthCare will spend the next 10 years working on ways to bring artificial intelligence to every aspect of a hospital visit, from the moment a patient is admitted until they walk out, the companies announced today

In the Center for Clinical Data Science, teams from both companies will develop, test and deploy artificial intelligence software at Partners' largest hospitals: Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

“This is about creating digital tools that will have a profound impact on medicine, said John Flannery, chief executive of GE Healthcare. “By leveraging AI across every patient interaction, workflow challenge and administrative need, this collaboration will drive improvements in quality, cost and access.”

The new technologies could reduce unnecessary procedures such as some biopsies and automate tedious medical image review, the companies said.

The first use of the technology will focus on medical images from x-rays, MRIs and other scans, which would help determine the impact of a stroke, quickly identify emergency room patients with fractures and help track how tumors respond to new cancer treatments.

“Clinicians are inundated with data, and the patient experience suffers from inefficiencies in the healthcare industry,” said David Torchiana, chief executive of Partners. “Together, we can empower clinicians with the tools needed to store, analyze and leverage the flood of information to more effectively deliver care to patients.”

A hospital using AI will improve patient care and allow doctors to spend more time with patients, GE Healthcare and Partners said.

However, some critics warn of the potential for AI to take jobs in hospitals, especially from those who spend their days analyzing medical images.

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