The president of the community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, gives a speech during the celebration of the Community of Madrid Day this Friday at FITUR.DANIEL GONZÁLEZ (EFE)

The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, put on the table this Monday that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be used to schedule doses of medications for patients or to manage the flow of occupancy in intensive care units.

Although the regional government has later clarified to questions from this newspaper that these words are not the announcement of official projects, but rather simply imply stating a hypothesis about what the future of medicine will be like, the unions in the sector have reacted immediately by showing their doubts.

It is not the first time they have done it: the Community of Madrid already has a pilot plan underway to apply AI to detect rare diseases.

“We have to see all the good that Artificial Intelligence can offer us,” said the conservative leader in the speech with which she closed the presentation of the study

The impact of AI on education

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"Of course, in the management of public services there are many, many advantages, for example in health matters, to know what exact dose of medicine each patient needs, taking into account that each of us is different, depending on the phase, for example, of a tumor when receiving drugs, or when detecting the exact real-time numbers of each of them in the ICUs and knowing which emergency department can allow new patients to arrive," he argued.

“When tens of thousands of data from so many people are managed, it helps us understand much better how health care, diseases, and what screenings to do evolve,” he began to list examples;

“or when fighting fire;

or when it comes to knowing where there may be a traffic jam and where, therefore, we can send more traffic to the entrance areas of the cities,” she added.

And he has stressed: “For this of course [AI] is a great ally, but now above all we have to see what collateral damage it can cause to the population.”

Last July, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) made public the draft of a document on the use of AI in the development and regulation of medicines for human and veterinary use.

Two months later, the Community of Madrid signed a collaboration agreement with Microsoft and the 29 Foundation “to implement a pioneering project in the world that will apply AI in the diagnosis of rare diseases, helping health professionals reduce the time to time to identify this type of pathologies, among other applications.”

That milestone, which came after months of protests in Primary Care due to the lack of doctors and time to care for patients, filled the sector's unions with doubts.

The same as the words of the regional president this Monday.

Science fiction film

Thus, Daniel Bernabéu, president of the Amyts medical union, assures that the use of AI can favor the management of public health.

But, he warns, there are several tasks to resolve before implementing it.

“In terms of management [in emergencies or intensive care] it is a useful tool.

But you have to define what data the AI ​​is going to be fed with and who is going to enter it.

It is also key that they are coordinated with data at the national level to avoid fights due to differences in information,” explains Bernabéu.

Regarding the possibility of using this technology in diagnosis and prescriptions, the president of Amyts adds other challenges.

One is determining who takes responsibility for patient outcomes when AI tools are used.

“Rehearsals are being carried out in other countries.

It works as an aid, but the doctor is the one who decides.

“AI has not been given a structural value,” explains Bernabéu and adds that, therefore, it is vital to have a protocol before implementing AI in healthcare.

“Doctors should know whether or not they are forced to use it or who has the final say in a diagnosis [AI or the doctor?] And who protects them, who assumes responsibility for its use,” he questions.

Another element, he indicates, is that patients have the right to know that their process will be assisted by AI.

“It [AI] is fine.

But it is also true that there is pressure from the industry and technological optimism to use it, but there are still some trade-offs that we must evaluate,” says Bernabéu.

But the president of Amyts highlights: “If there is not enough funding in public health, no matter how much AI we have, we are not going to improve the results.

There are things that we cannot stop doing, such as increasing investment and solving overloads in specialties such as family medicine.”

For its part, UGT points out that although technology can be a tool for healthcare, there are cases in which it cannot replace doctors and specialists.

“We are not in a science fiction movie.

This is one of the clumsinesses that the Community of Madrid has accustomed us to,” said a spokesperson.

“AI can be used in optimal and productive ways, but here it is implied that it is to replace professionals and that is what cannot be,” stated the spokesperson, to highlight that the areas related to pharmaceuticals and intensive care They are especially delicate.

Finally, CC OO Sanidad Madrid supports the use of technologies for public health management but, it assures, they do not take their eyes off the needs of the sector.

“Technological advances are essential tools for people's work, but they do not replace the needs that exist in the workforce,” indicates the union.

"If what the president of the Community of Madrid intends is to cover up her poor management in public health, bombastically selling us her wonderful implementation of new technologies and leaving aside the need for more hiring of personnel, the improvement of working conditions and attracting talent, with CC OO Sanidad Madrid not counting,” the union denounces.

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