​Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and augmented reality have the potential to dramatically change healthcare, and their use in healthcare is expected to increase by up to 40% by 2023, says an August 16, 2018, article in Health Facilities Management. Healthcare organizations must prepare for this growth, the author says, by creating a strategic master plan to reflect the potential future uses of artificial intelligence, or computers that mimic human thinking and learning patterns; augmented reality, which involves the integration of digital information and images into an environment in real time; virtual reality, which is an interactive, computer-generated three-dimensional (3-D) environment; and 3-D printing. The author describes already existing uses of artificial intelligence, for instance to assist infection control efforts. One Indiana healthcare organization uses artificial intelligence to aid infection control by using predictive analytics to create a data visualization platform, providing a visual alert for providers, the author explains. A New York healthcare facility is using 3-D printing to create artificial organs and other anatomic parts to allow for more realistic simulations of surgeries, according to the article. Artificial intelligence is also being used to evaluate medical records and predict patient disease risks at a New York medical school described in the article. As various technologies continue to be refined and integrated into healthcare, organizations should be prepared for changes to their workflows, floor space requirements, and infrastructure, the article suggests, and should address system integration issues. Participants in these efforts should include staff from information technology, biomedical departments, facilities, supply chain, and administration, the article says.

HRC Recommends: Risk managers should remain alert to emerging technologies that can affect patient care and safety. As they do with any new technology, healthcare organizations must evaluate the technology's risks and benefits to patient care. If technologies such as machine learning–decision support systems and 3-D printing are ready for adoption, healthcare organizations must evaluate the ease of integrating the technology into clinicians' workflow—as well as the possibility that the new technology can introduce errors in patient care—before implementing them.