'In the past, sewerage was a tipping point for health, now AI'
Just as sewage systems improved health at the time, AI will fulfill that role now.
Published on April 15, 2025
Our DATA+ expert, Elcke Vels, explores AI, cyber security, and Dutch innovation. Her "What if..." column imagines bold scenarios beyond the norm.
“Artificial intelligence will keep healthcare accessible to everyone,” said professor Carina Hilders at the largest Healthcare & ICT event in the Netherlands, held at the Jaarbeurs exhibition center in Utrecht. Staff shortages, sky-high waiting lists: AI is an indispensable piece of the puzzle.
Hilders, professor by special appointment of Medical Management and Leadership at Erasmus University Rotterdam and also chairman of the Board of Directors of UMC Utrecht, does not beat around the bush. She kicks off with a laundry list of challenges that healthcare is currently facing. “But the biggest challenge at the moment is that healthcare is no longer equally accessible to everyone. Did you know that there can be a seven-year difference in life expectancy based solely on your postcode?”
A tipping point in healthcare
It is high time for change, and AI can help us make significant progress. Hilders makes a striking comparison. The healthcare sector is under pressure, but this is not the first time it has been like this. A few centuries ago, in cities such as Amsterdam and Utrecht, for example, the canals were polluted, the drinking water was unsafe and diseases such as cholera and plague ravaged the population. At the time, no one had a solution and the death toll was rising rapidly.
It was Samuel Sarphati who came up with a brilliant idea: to install a sewer system to rid the city of the stench and pollution. What happened? Not only did the stench disappear, but epidemics such as cholera and plague were effectively eradicated. This had an enormously positive impact on public health.
“Today, we are at a similar tipping point,” the professor said. Just as sewage improved health at the time, AI will fulfill that role now. It offers the solution for keeping healthcare accessible in the future. AI is also an indispensable ‘pipeline’.
101 benefits of AI
First of all, AI makes healthcare a lot more accessible for everyone, Hilders argues. For example, through real-time home monitoring, people will need to go to the hospital less often. This makes healthcare more accessible. AI can also help with prevention through pattern recognition. By analyzing health data, AI can recognize risk factors for certain diseases and predict who is most susceptible. This allows vaccinations to be administered in a timely and targeted manner, providing better protection for vulnerable groups.
Hilders also sees how AI is valuable for nurses. Up to 60% of a nurse's working time is spent on administrative tasks. AI can help by automatically converting consultation conversations to the electronic patient record (EPR), generating discharge letters and automating care registration. This reduces the administrative pressure on healthcare professionals.
AI is also used for real-time data analysis in continuous monitoring. This means that nurses no longer have to manually measure patients' blood pressure or temperature four times a day. AI can continuously record this data, giving healthcare workers more time for personal contact with patients.
AI also makes the process of making diagnoses much more efficient and accurate. AI-based analysis and decision models can assess a scan in just half a second, where a human being would take minutes.
'AI must become part of our genes'
Hilders concludes by discussing the future of AI in healthcare: “If we look at the Integrated Care Agreement (IZA), AI is mentioned as a necessary pillar for the future of healthcare. Digitization and data platforms play an undeniable role in this transition.”
According to Hilders, it is important that every hospital implements the technology at all levels of the organization. “In Utrecht, we are taking the lead and are playing a pioneering role in its implementation. This includes conducting research and training new professionals in the use of AI. It is not enough to simply place AI somewhere in the organization; it has to be in people's genes.”
