Americans are aware that the United States healthcare system is cluttered and burdened by the strain of administrative tasks.
Despite spending nearly double what other first-world countries spend on healthcare, the level of healthcare is not drastically higher. One expert who aims to change the healthcare industry with AI is Ramya Ganti, a health tech professional who wants to speed up American healthcare for both patients and healthcare professionals.
Ganti's Health Tech Expertise
Ganti's career in health tech began at Deloitte, where she worked with a variety of payer, provider, and pharma clients, gaining a solid understanding of the industry. She then worked at Vanderbilt Medical Center as an internal consultant, where she improved the efficiency of operating rooms and used data analytics to enhance patient care and safety in the hospital. Ganti pursued her MBA at Chicago Booth, earning the Forte Fellowship. After her MBA, she joined The Boston Consulting Group, where her strategies led to a $50M increase in topline revenue for the healthcare subsidiary of a private equity client.
Later, she joined Thoughtful AI, a health-tech startup that develops AI agents for healthcare revenue cycle management. There, she reshaped the company's marketing and product strategies, refining the ideal customer profile and significantly shortening the sales cycle. With a strong technical background from her engineering education and experience as a product manager, Ganti brings a robust blend of technical expertise, business acumen, and a deep understanding of healthcare.
Understanding the Problem at Hand
The US is a big spender when it comes to healthcare, with its citizens pouring over $4.7 trillion in 2023, which accounts for about 18 percent of the national economy. So, if the spending is high, wouldn't the level of care also be high?
Not according to Ganti, who led product strategy and marketing at Health Tech startup Thoughtful AI, allowing some of the industry's administrative and bureaucratic tasks to be automated. Since branching out into her own startup, Ganti says, "The biggest issue facing the healthcare system is the burden of administrative costs, with nearly 30 percent of the excess spending dedicated to tasks that could be cut out with the use of AI."
In fact, 15 percent of the spending is dedicated to the administrative costs of insurance, with another 15 percent from the administrative burden on the providers. This financial strain on the healthcare system only serves to hold back the quality of service and raise the cost for everyone involved.
Ganti believes that the strain put on the system is caused by a convergence of multiple factors. First, the rising cost of healthcare is coupled with limited insurance coverage, which in turn creates a financial burden for patients and providers.
There is also an increase in chronic conditions within the aging population, which places significant demands on the system. The administrative complexities, like insurance claims, paperwork, and regulatory hurdles, divert resources away from what matters most: patient care.
Meanwhile, there is a shortage of trained healthcare professionals especially in rural and underserved areas, just to name a few key issues the US healthcare industry is currently facing.
What is the solution?
Ganti believes that AI can play a huge role in helping to reduce the strains, especially the administrative ones, on the healthcare system. "AI can help to significantly declutter the healthcare system," says Ganti, offering a glimmer of hope.
Artificial Intelligence is seemingly at the forefront of everything these days, but how does it specifically help the healthcare industry?
For one, AI can handle all the data that is currently logged and overseen by people whose time would be better spent given patient care. Ganti believes that AI can analyze patient medical records to predict patient outcomes, optimize treatment plans, and prevent readmissions.
AI chatbots offer a vehicle to provide patients with 24/7 access to medical advice, reducing the strain on the emergency rooms. There are plenty of tasks that Ganti believes could be aided by AI. With the oversight of healthcare professionals, AI can be a powerful tool to augment rather than replace human capabilities.
When thinking about computers and AI, the first thing that comes to mind is data—which is the ideal place to start the process of unburdening the system, says Ganti. Helping to identify trends and predict outcomes while optimizing resource allocation will help to save valuable time. It can also aid in image analysis by identifying issues found on X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans. But it doesn't end there.
Developing new medications is another process that has always been bogged down by endless time constraints. Ganti is confident that AI can help speed up these processes, allowing for the faster delivery of crucially important medications.
Finally, one of the biggest issues is handling the burdensome administrative tasks. There are areas that just don't need to be done by people whose time could be better spent elsewhere—things like appointment scheduling, insurance verification, and claims processing, to name a few. Using AI will also help to cut out human error, something that only serves to clutter the system further.
"Ultimately, AI should be used as a tool to aid healthcare professionals," says Ganti. "It will work hand in hand with them to enhance the care provided, and with the dedicated healthcare professionals in the U.S., it will only lead to a higher level of care." AI should be seen as something that amplifies human abilities and augments their capabilities rather than replacing them.
So, who benefits the most?
Everyone.
Ganti feels as if AI is poised to transform the entire healthcare system. There is an opportunity for this to be a mutually beneficial transformation where each sector can benefit and ultimately make the entire system better.
Reducing administrative costs by nearly 30 percent will help optimize the system and reduce the costs that have been passed on to payers. AI can help minimize errors and accelerate decision-making, passing on an estimated $265 billion annually in savings from the reduction of administrative costs. This reduction in friction between payers and providers can ensure faster approvals and savings to be passed down to patients through lower insurance premiums coupled with faster service.
AI will help to analyze mass amounts of data, enhance diagnostic accuracy, and aid in optimizing treatment plans. With a better ability to identify diseases such as cancer than with human practitioners alone, there will be better health outcomes, and patients will benefit from more accurate diagnoses.
As Ganti explains, the accelerated timeline for drug discovery will help pharmaceutical companies develop all the important drugs that can help save more lives. Using data to analyze and predict drug interactions as well as promising drug candidates will lead to more affordable and innovative medications.
And most importantly, the patients. The ultimate goal of streamlining the healthcare system is to enhance the care for those who need medical assistance. Ganti strongly believes in the potential of AI chatbots to provide expert medical advice around the clock. By decluttering the system, healthcare becomes more affordable, a cause everyone can support.
"The integration of AI and human expertise can streamline the healthcare system," says Ganti. "This will, in turn, reduce costs and improve patient care as a whole." This is certainly a vision we can all rally behind.
Ganti is making significant strides with her startup, BabySteps. The app connects pregnant women with doulas, offering continuous care and support beyond routine OB-GYN visits. Looking ahead, BabySteps aims to evolve into a comprehensive pregnancy companion by integrating a chatbot that delivers research-backed answers to common pregnancy questions. Ganti's goal is to revolutionize women's health, one step at a time. With this forward-thinking approach, she is poised to transform the future of maternal care.
As AI and human expertise converge, the promise of a more efficient, compassionate, and accessible healthcare system becomes increasingly within reach.
