When one size does not fit all - artificial intelligence in Australian rural health.

Abstract

Aims: Artificial intelligence (AI) is having an increasing impact on many aspects of our day-to-day lives. This change is also true in healthcare, with various tools being developed to hasten burdensome administrative tasks and increase overall healthcare efficiency, particularly in metropolitan centres.

Context: AI has remained comparatively clear of rural, regional and remote Australian hospitals, where it has the potential to provide significant benefits. Like previous health technology implementations, rural workforce requirements for AI maintenance and support may hinder AI deployment in these areas. While AI has been implemented successfully in metropolitan areas, these models may have limited translatability to rural health settings with significantly different administrative and healthcare systems.

Approach: AI may assist with key issues in rural centres such as resource allocation and timely patient transfer for higher level care. While the potential benefits of AI in rural centres are clear, one must consider key factors in rural centres that may limit the success of AI in these hospitals. Smaller rural populations may limit the ability to train location-specific models, and connectivity issues may impede their effective use.

Conclusion: Specific efforts are required to realise potential benefits of medical AI for rural Australia; addressing connectivity and workforce issues in rural areas is vital to allow for AI and large language models to help benefit rural centres.