Taking part in a particularly important conference, staged by The Economist on 29 January on “Artificial Intelligence at the Dawn of 2021: Thinking outside the box”, was Interamerican CEO Giannis Kantoros, who was part of a panel on “Artificial Intelligence in Health”. Other members of the panel discussing the applications and new treatments that artificial intelligence promises included Giannis Kotsiopoulos, Secretary General of the Greek Health Ministry, and Bart De Witte, founder of the HIPPO AI Foundation and the Digital Health Academy. The speakers also addressed the reliability of artificial intelligence solutions.
Healthcare, from the aspect of both insurance and services, is the core of Interamerican’s business operations. The company is acutely interested in digital innovation, one of its strategic priorities. The Interamerican CEO referred to the insurance aspects of using artificial intelligence, management of personal data and the attendant cost of AI use, noting that, regardless, the human factor determines the relationship with the patient and patient management. Besides, as Mr Kantoros said, when people are faced with the dilemma of an invasive treatment for a serious condition by an automated AI-supported robotic team or by a highly experienced team of surgeons, they overwhelmingly tend to prefer the latter solution.
“Undoubtedly, from an insurance perspective, every attempt to improve the quality of services provided and effective medical care is a welcome step. It is certain that the application of artificial intelligence could also limit the errors that lead to a disproportionate increase in costs. I believe that the use of artificial intelligence can make an important contribution to designing a better health system that provides more people with access to healthcare while also lowering the cost of services,” he said. He explained that AI is a useful tool in decision-making, correct diagnosis and improved operations at hospitals and diagnostic centres and can contribute specifically to research on new drugs and treatments.
The head of Interamerican stressed that artificial intelligence can offer solutions for creating and strengthening an improved system, particularly in primary healthcare. “One example would be through mobile phone applications for self-diagnosis and taking the right steps for a preliminary assessment and interpretation of symptoms. If the symptoms raise concerns, a doctor can be contacted through a telemedicine-type application and, if necessary, the next step would be to make an appointment at a health centre, which through our company would be at one of our privately owned medical centres. It is a procedure we are already piloting at Interamerican,” Mr Kantoros said. He added that this would be one way to reduce crowding at hospital outpatient departments, while also controlling the cost of unnecessary expenses.
As to the role of artificial intelligence in controlling insurability, given that, according to John Andrews, the consultant editor at The Economist who was moderating the discussion, “insurers prefer to insure low-risk individuals, not high-risk ones,” Interamerican’s CEO had this to say: “Certainly, the use of data is a big issue. Proper medical care is a social good and we need to be sensitive and avoid extremes in data management. In general, we need reasonable use so we can be more accurate and be able to provide additional and more effective services,” Mr Kantoros said.
These days, artificial intelligence touches on many areas of the insurance market – not just health insurance. At an international level, insurance companies have introduced artificial intelligence technology and robotic process automation in fraud detection, in creating a chatbot for customer service, in forecasting and limiting assumed risk, in handling claims for compensation and in automating bureaucratic processes.
