WEF: Why is AI & Digital Healthcare Failing to Advance?

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), healthcare systems around the world are under mounting strain, driven by ageing populations, rising demand and limited supply. 

With a projected 10 million-worker shortfall by 2030 and costs growing faster than gross domestic product, the need for transformative change is urgent. 

Digitalisation and AI can offer real potential but scaling these solutions remains a major challenge.

AI investment is rising

According to WEF, AI could help healthcare providers deliver more accurate diagnoses, improve decision-making, strengthen remote monitoring and streamline administrative work. 

The American Medical Association says that, despite more than US$100bn in venture funding flowing into US digital health companies since 2010, most innovations fail to achieve widespread adoption. 

More than 70% of AI-related approvals by the US Food and Drug Administration are focused on imaging, with many still not widely used in everyday care.

Healthcare systems can be complex due to involving payers, providers, regulators, patients and private companies operating under different rules across countries. 

This environment can make it difficult for typical technology models to scale, even when solutions show early success.

Europe can unlock a new chapter of growth only if it passes the leadership test.

"AI is, of course, one of the critical levers," says Thomas Buberl, Group CEO of AXA.

"Business and political leaders need to move beyond a cost-savings approach toward imagining new models for growth and to guide citizens through a responsible deployment of AI.

"If AI is combined with prevention, it can help us stop paying for yesterday’s damage and start preventing tomorrow’s, making the system ultimately sustainable."

Barriers holding back digital transformation

According to WEF:

“The complexity of systems causes typical tech models to fall short, with industry players struggling to scale digital solutions effectively, even when they are initially successful. 

Several key barriers stand out:

• Health innovators, from startups to large companies, face major hurdles. It’s hard to integrate digital and AI tools into clinical care due to scattered data, stringent regulations and limited access to the anonymised data needed to train AI. Furthermore, a fragmented market makes it challenging to expand beyond local areas.
• Unique human and governance factors further entrench silos, e.g. constrained and burnt-out clinical staff, data sharing and privacy concerns and a bias towards inventing solutions in-house, as well as inadequate funding with overly complex payment models.”

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Unlocking the full potential of digital and AI healthcare solutions requires coordinated action across stakeholders, with clinical entrepreneurship emerging as an overlooked but powerful driver of transformation.

"AI can transform healthcare, if we fix the data foundation," writes Dr Jochen Malinowski, Senior Managing Director - EMEA Lead Software and Platforms - DACH Lead Cloud First at Accenture, on LinkedIn.

"Artificial intelligence already shows remarkable potential in diagnostics, prevention and clinical workflows."

The ARC Global Platform

One model gaining attention is the Accelerate, Redesign, Collaborate (ARC) Global Platform, founded in 2019 at Sheba Medical Centre in Israel. 

ARC connects healthcare systems, industry partners and more than 100 startups to support large-scale transformation efforts that tackle workforce shortages, inefficiencies, burnout and regulatory challenges.

Its approach is built on local integration of digital solutions, public-private partnerships with shared risks and benefits and global innovation platforms that help proven care models scale rapidly. 

ARC’s success also depends on cultural change, fostering curiosity, inclusivity and transparent leadership that empowers staff to innovate.

Through entrepreneurship training, mentorship and design thinking tools, healthcare institutions can shift from passive adopters of innovation to active creators of transformative solutions.

A concerted global effort is now essential to ensure AI delivers real-world impact. Initiatives such as the WEF’s Digital Healthcare Transformation Initiative can help spread scalable models, while governments, investors and health systems must align to build more integrated, technologically advanced care for the future.