The U.S. has more older people now, like many other developed countries. These older adults often have many health problems. This causes several challenges:
These problems make it hard to keep healthcare working well. A new way of providing care is needed.
Project CHANGE is a team effort that brings together medicine, engineering, and nursing. It tries to build healthcare systems that can handle more patients, especially older adults.
The project focuses on three areas:
The goal is to provide ongoing care that happens outside of just hospitals. This is important in the U.S. where there are differences in healthcare between cities and rural places.
By working together, these fields aim to make healthcare better and more focused on patients’ needs.
San Diego clinics started using AI and new technology early. Their experience can help healthcare leaders in the U.S.
Some reasons for San Diego’s progress include:
Experts such as Prof. Karandeep Singh point out that AI can help doctors make better choices, personalize care for each patient, and save money. But to do this well, AI must be used the right way and fit into the current healthcare system.
Project CHANGE targets key healthcare problems in the U.S. Its focus areas include:
These efforts help deal with U.S. healthcare’s complex rules and the diverse needs of patients.
Project CHANGE uses new sensor technology like wearable devices. These devices keep track of health data all the time.
UC San Diego’s Center for Wearable Sensors, led by Prof. Patrick Mercier, is working on flexible sensors that monitor vital signs and other health information.
For healthcare leaders, these devices offer:
Still, current wearables sometimes lack accuracy and struggle with measuring some health signs. Project CHANGE pushes for better devices and safe ways to handle all the health data.
A big part of Project CHANGE is using AI and automation in daily healthcare tasks.
One example is Simbo AI, a company that automates phone calls and patient communication. Their AI answers calls and schedules appointments.
This helps medical offices by:
Project CHANGE supports AI tools like these to help healthcare workers do their jobs well.
Besides phone tasks, AI can assist with:
There are challenges, like fitting AI into current electronic health records, protecting patient data, and showing AI works well in real care. Project CHANGE uses teamwork across fields to solve these problems.
Project CHANGE grows from teamwork among universities, healthcare providers, and tech companies. Groups like LINK-J and UC San Diego hold meetings on healthcare engineering and new ideas.
Mr. Takehito Matsuba, COO at Citadel AI and former Google Health Japan lead, notes that AI tools must meet global rules. This is important in the U.S. where laws like HIPAA protect health data.
Prof. Takanori Ichiki from The University of Tokyo says solving healthcare problems needs teamwork beyond just medicine. Engineering and nursing are also key.
Healthcare leaders in the U.S. can learn from this by working closely with tech companies, research centers, and clinical staff to create useful solutions.
Project CHANGE offers ideas that fit the U.S. healthcare system. It aims to balance good care, lower costs, and worker shortages.
Its approach supports:
Healthcare managers and IT staff should think about Project CHANGE when planning for future care. Using AI, automation, new wearables, and teamwork across fields can build a stronger system.
Healthcare leaders who want to follow Project CHANGE ideas can begin with:
The growing number of older people in the U.S. creates problems for healthcare. New, strong systems are needed to give good and lasting care. Project CHANGE brings together medicine, engineering, and nursing to try new ways.
Using technology like AI, wearable sensors, and automation can help catch diseases early, manage long-term illnesses, and reduce the strain on healthcare workers.
For medical office leaders and IT teams, tools like Simbo AI’s phone automation can improve how clinics run. Working together across different fields and following rules helps move the U.S. healthcare system toward better care for older adults.
The super-aging society presents issues such as rising chronic diseases, a shortage of inpatient beds, increasing medical costs, and a decline in healthcare workforce quality, potentially leading to clinic closures.
Advanced technologies, including AI, wearable sensors, and nanotechnology, enable innovations in health promotion, disease diagnosis, treatment, and long-term care, helping to address challenges in patient care through decentralized solutions.
Wearable devices monitor health conditions daily and can lead to early detection of diseases, although many current devices have limited accuracy and capacity for clinical diagnostics.
There is a need for highly functional devices that can accurately measure previously hard-to-measure biomarkers and the development of data management systems for practical medical applications.
AI is crucial for improving health outcomes by enabling better predictive analytics, patient management, and operational efficiency within healthcare facilities.
Clinics in San Diego are at the forefront of AI adoption due to the area’s strong academic collaborations, such as with UC San Diego, and the pressing need to improve patient care amid resource constraints.
AI has the potential to enhance decision-making processes, personalize patient care, reduce costs, and improve overall health outcomes, addressing many existing system inefficiencies.
Health AI systems struggle with generating robust evidence in real-world settings and integrating effectively within existing health infrastructures, limiting their ability to demonstrate tangible outcomes.
Project CHANGE is an initiative aimed at building a resilient, healthy, long-lived society through collaboration between medicine, engineering, and nursing to address healthcare challenges.
Collaborative events, such as symposiums and research partnerships, facilitate the flow of ideas and innovations, helping integrate cutting-edge technologies into practical healthcare applications.