Scenario Planning for The AI-Enabled Health System

As with many emerging technologies, it’s not easy to forecast the impact artificial intelligence will have on hospitals and health systems. But there is a way for organizations to test their AI plans. A new companion Market Insights report — “Scenario Planning for the AI-Enabled Health Care System” — from the AHA Center for Health Innovation and the Society for Health Care Strategy & Market Development explores scenario planning for the AI-enabled health care system. Scenario planning is an effective exercise for leadership teams who are planning today for an uncertain future.

The report provides AI scenarios by looking at a preferred future (the future you want to see happen) and an undesired future (the one you don’t want to see). It then guides the reader through the exercise of “backcasting” — the opposite of forecasting. This process looks at each scenario and asks questions about how that possible future came to be. This can help uncover which steps to take to reach the preferred future and how to avoid the undesired future.