Apollo Hospitals Invests in AI to Ease Healthcare Staff Workload and Improve Patient Care

India's Apollo Hospitals bets on AI to tackle staff workload

HYDERABAD, March 13 (Reuters) - India's Apollo Hospitals (APLH.NS), opens new tab will invest more in artificial intelligence tools to ease the workload for its doctors and nurses by automating routine tasks, including medical documentation, a top executive told Reuters. Indian hospitals, which grapple with overworked doctors and nurses handling heavy patient loads, are increasingly using AI to boost diagnostic accuracy, predict patients' risk of complications, improve precision in robotic surgeries, provide virtual medical care, and streamline hospital operations. Apollo, which has more than 10,000 beds across its hospital network, making it one of the largest in the country, set aside 3.5% of its digital spend on AI over the past two years and plans to increase it this year, Joint Managing Director Sangita Reddy said, without providing further details. "Our aim is to free up two to three hours of time daily for doctors and nurses with AI interventions," Reddy said in an interview last month. Apollo's AI tools, some of which are experimental and still in the initial stages, will analyse patients' electronic medical records to suggest diagnoses, tests and treatment. They will help transcribe doctors' observations, generate faster discharge summaries and create daily schedules out of nurses' notes. The Chennai-based hospital chain is also working on an AI tool that will help clinicians prescribe the most effective antibiotic suitable to treat the illness. Apollo, which aims to expand bed capacity by one-third in four years, will direct a part of the revenue from the additions towards boosting AI use without burdening costs, Reddy said. The hospital hopes that the use of such AI tools will help lower nurses' workload as it tackles a 25% attrition rate among nurses, which it expects to increase to 30% by the end of fiscal 2025. Other Indian hospitals such as Fortis Healthcare (FOHE.NS), opens new tab, Tata Memorial Hospital, Manipal Hospitals, Narayana Health, Max Healthcare (MAXE.NS), opens new tab, Medanta (MEDN.NS), opens new tab and Aster DM Healthcare (ATRD.NS), opens new tab have also invested in AI-powered tools. But challenges such as high technology costs, diverse data sources and formats, limited availability of electronic medical records and profitability concerns have made it difficult for them to accelerate AI adoption, according to Joydeep Ghosh, a partner at Deloitte India. Reporting by Rishika Sadam; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan, Janane Venkatraman and Mrigank Dhaniwala Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Healthcare & PharmaceuticalsHealthcare Providers

India's Apollo Hospitals Bets on AI to Tackle Staff Workload

HYDERABAD (Reuters) -India's Apollo Hospitals will invest more in artificial intelligence tools to ease the workload for its doctors and nurses by automating routine tasks, including medical documentation, a top executive told Reuters. Indian hospitals, which grapple with overworked doctors and nurses handling heavy patient loads, are increasingly using AI to boost diagnostic accuracy, predict patients' risk of complications, improve precision in robotic surgeries, provide virtual medical care, and streamline hospital operations. Apollo, which has more than 10,000 beds across its hospital network, making it one of the largest in the country, set aside 3.5% of its digital spend on AI over the past two years and plans to increase it this year, Joint Managing Director Sangita Reddy said, without providing further details. "Our aim is to free up two to three hours of time daily for doctors and nurses with AI interventions," Reddy said in an interview last month. Apollo's AI tools, some of which are experimental and still in the initial stages, will analyse patients' electronic medical records to suggest diagnoses, tests and treatment. They will help transcribe doctors' observations, generate faster discharge summaries and create daily schedules out of nurses' notes. The Chennai-based hospital chain is also working on an AI tool that will help clinicians prescribe the most effective antibiotic suitable to treat the illness. Apollo, which aims to expand bed capacity by one-third in four years, will direct a part of the revenue from the additions towards boosting AI use without burdening costs, Reddy said. The hospital hopes that the use of such AI tools will help lower nurses' workload as it tackles a 25% attrition rate among nurses, which it expects to increase to 30% by the end of fiscal 2025. Other Indian hospitals such as Fortis Healthcare, Tata Memorial Hospital, Manipal Hospitals, Narayana Health, Max Healthcare, Medanta and Aster DM Healthcare have also invested in AI-powered tools. But challenges such as high technology costs, diverse data sources and formats, limited availability of electronic medical records and profitability concerns have made it difficult for them to accelerate AI adoption, according to Joydeep Ghosh, a partner at Deloitte India. (Reporting by Rishika Sadam; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan, Janane Venkatraman and Mrigank Dhaniwala)

Apollo Hospitals bets on AI to tackle staff workload

India's Apollo Hospitals will invest more in artificial intelligence tools to ease the workload for its doctors and nurses by automating routine tasks, including medical documentation, a top executive told Reuters. Indian hospitals, which grapple with overworked doctors and nurses handling heavy patient loads, are increasingly using AI to boost diagnostic accuracy, predict patients' risk of complications, improve precision in robotic surgeries, provide virtual medical care, and streamline hospital operations. Apollo, which has more than 10,000 beds across its hospital network, making it one of the largest in the country, set aside 3.5% of its digital spend on AI over the past two years and plans to increase it this year, Joint Managing Director Sangita Reddy said, without providing further details. "Our aim is to free up two to three hours of time daily for doctors and nurses with AI interventions," Reddy said in an interview last month. Apollo's AI tools, some of which are experimental and still in the initial stages, will analyse patients' electronic medical records to suggest diagnoses, tests and treatment. They will help transcribe doctors' observations, generate faster discharge summaries and create daily schedules out of nurses' notes. The Chennai-based hospital chain is also working on an AI tool that will help clinicians prescribe the most effective antibiotic suitable to treat the illness. Apollo, which aims to expand bed capacity by one-third in four years, will direct a part of the revenue from the additions towards boosting AI use without burdening costs, Reddy said. The hospital hopes that the use of such AI tools will help lower nurses' workload as it tackles a 25% attrition rate among nurses, which it expects to increase to 30% by the end of fiscal 2025. Other Indian hospitals such as Fortis Healthcare, Tata Memorial Hospital, Manipal Hospitals, Narayana Health, Max Healthcare, Medanta and Aster DM Healthcare have also invested in AI-powered tools. But challenges such as high technology costs, diverse data sources and formats, limited availability of electronic medical records and profitability concerns have made it difficult for them to accelerate AI adoption, according to Joydeep Ghosh, a partner at Deloitte India.

Apollo Hospitals Expands AI Investment, AI-Based Music Therapy for Cancer Patients: Report

Other major hospitals like Fortis, Tata Memorial, and Medanta are also investing in AI. India's Apollo Hospitals is increasing its investment in artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce the workload of its doctors and nurses by automating routine tasks like medical documentation, Reuters reported, citing a top executive. Indian hospitals, facing overworked doctors and nurses managing heavy patient loads, are increasingly leveraging AI to enhance diagnostic accuracy, predict complication risks, refine robotic surgeries, enable virtual medical care, and optimise hospital operations, the report noted. Also Read: AI: Celestial AI Funding, WNS Acquires Kipi.ai, CoreWeave OpenAI Deal, Perfios Buys CreditNirvana "Apollo, which has more than 10,000 beds across its hospital network, making it one of the largest in the country, set aside 3.5 percent of its digital spend on AI over the past two years and plans to increase it this year, Joint Managing Director Sangita Reddy reportedly said, without providing further details. "Our aim is to free up two to three hours daily for doctors and nurses through AI interventions," she reportedly said. Apollo's AI tools, some of which are experimental and still in the initial stages, will analyse patents' electronic medical records to suggest diagnoses, tests, and treatments, while also transcribing doctors' observations and generating discharge summaries. Apollo is also developing an AI tool that will help clinicians prescribe the most effective antibiotic suitable to treat the illness, the report further said. As part of its strategy, the hospital plans to expand bed capacity by one-third in four years, directing a portion of the revenue toward AI adoption. With nurse attrition expected to rise from 25 percent to 30 percent by fiscal 2025, the hospital hopes AI will help manage workloads and improve efficiency. According to the report, several other Indian hospitals, including Fortis Healthcare, Tata Memorial, Manipal Hospitals, Narayana Health, Max Healthcare, Medanta, and Aster DM Healthcare, have also invested in AI-powered tools. However, high technology costs, diverse data sources and formats, and limited electronic medical records remain key challenges to accelerate AI adoption, Joydeep Ghosh, a partner at Deloitte India, was quoted as saying. Also Read: Relying on AI for Legal Research Risky, Says SC Justice: Report In another AI related development, Apollo Proton Cancer Centre (APCC) launched what they call Asia's first AI-based music therapy for cancer patients in collaboration with DigiNxtHlt to support cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, according to The Hindu Report dated March 1. Carnatic vocalist Sudha Raghunathan, inaugurated the therapy and called the venture a trailblazer, noting that "Though music was a powerful medium, its therapeutic potential has not been explored yet." "AI-based music therapy will help in creating a soothing environment for the cancer patients," she reportedly added. Sujith Kumar Mullapally, Consultant-Medical Oncologist at APCC, reportedly said, "The music therapy -- approved by the Apollo Ethics Committee and the Clinical Trials Registry -- has been carried out on cancer patients who were willing to receive the therapy." Sujatha Visweswara, CEO and Co-Founder of Echo Care, reportedly said the AI-driven therapy has been designed to provide a "personalised soundscape" for cancer patients.