Artificial intelligence (AI) has an extremely wide range of possible applications within the health service broadly. AI systems are in use in the public and private health services, in the specialist health service and among municipal health and care services. AI systems are used for everything from administrative to treatment-related tasks, and are used by health professionals, technical personnel, managers, other employees in the health service and citizens.
In Tid for handling (Time for action), the Health Personnel Commission states that the digital transformation is characterised by the rapid development of new technologies (...) that offer major opportunities. Artificial intelligence and personalised medicine are examples of such technologies, which have led to and can lead to completely new types of healthcare and ways of working”.New types of jobs, skill needs, personnel groups and training may emerge in the wake of this. “This will require new courses and create new tasks and routines for staff, patients, users and others. The introduction and use of technology will require digital and technical skills enhancement. This applies not only at individual and management levels, but also throughout the workforce and the population in general.” [68]
The greater use of technologies such as sensors, apps, welfare technology, etc. is leading to the creation of more data, thereby presenting more opportunities for a data-driven and more personalized healthcare service. These are changes that will affect how healthcare services are provided. Each of these changes will require a change in competence to a greater or lesser degree, which will temporally coincide with the skill requirements associated with artificial intelligence. The skill requirements linked to artificial intelligence should therefore not be viewed in isolation from knowledge of technology in general.
Artificial intelligence entails a need for skills concerning the actual use of artificial intelligence, to manage the consequences of using artificial intelligence as altered tasks, as well as the more unexpected effects associated with digital transformation.
The distribution of responsibility for the competence of health professionals is complex, with many different stakeholders, each of which has different responsibilities for basic training, specialist training and continuing professional development, courses and guidance. The Norwegian education system is complex and spread across a number of stakeholders, each of which has different roles, authorities and needs as regards autonomy. In times of stress and change, it is important to be wary about creating completely new structures that do not work with or complement the existing ones. A focus will therefore be placed on existing structures to meet competence needs, and how these can be developed and changed to meet new needs.
Norwegian municipalities, regional health authorities and health trusts vary greatly in size with regard to both geography and population catchment. Size is a factor in determining how much responsibility they can take when developing their own competence-enhancing material, and the extent to which they can contribute to others. There will therefore be an expectation from the health authorities that large regions, hospitals and municipalities will share with and assist the smaller ones, for the benefit of the community.
Background
Section 6.6 of the final report for the coordination project contains the following recommendation:
- Access to adequate competence is a critical factor in implementing and deploying AI solutions responsibly.