The Role of AI in Enhancing Patient Engagement and Outcomes

By Ashu Goel, Founder and CEO, WinWire

The healthcare AI market is growing fast—and it’s not slowing down anytime soon. In 2024, it was worth about $26.69 billion. By 2034, it’s expected to reach nearly $613.81 billion, with a steady annual growth rate of around 36.83%.

Beyond the numbers, it’s already changing how patients track, learn about their health, and engage with service providers. One study found that even free AI tools made complex medical content easier to read, especially for surgery prep for heart conditions. 

In plain terms? AI is helping people make sense of confusing health information so they’re not left guessing.

Needless to say, AI won’t replace doctors, but it can make healthcare feel a lot less challenging. Whether patients are waiting on test results or trying to make sense of their medicines, AI works quietly in the background—sorting through the noise and helping patients get clear, timely answers.

Experience First, Outcomes Next

We tend to treat “Patient Experience” and “outcomes” like two separate things. But are they really? When people understand what’s going on—and feel heard—they’re way more likely to stick with their care plan. That’s where AI quietly steps in. It keeps things organized, sends reminders, and fills in the blanks we’d otherwise miss.

Take missed appointments. They cost the U.S. healthcare system around $150 billion a year, with no-show rates between 16% and 24%. That’s a lot of empty exam rooms and lost time. But AI can help flag who’s likely to skip, send reminders, offer rescheduling, or even check if someone needs help getting to their appointment.

And missed appointments are just one piece of the puzzle. Across the care journey, AI is already making a clear, measurable impact—helping care teams act faster, reduce risks, and keep patients more informed and involved every step of their care journey.

Here’s how different organizations are already putting these ideas into action:

• Smarter Self-Registration for Imaging Centers  

A leading imaging provider handled millions of exams each year, but their manual check-in process slowed everything down. Patients were frustrated, and front-desk staff were stretched thin. WinWire developed a touchless self- registration app that works across devices—kiosks, iPads, phones, and web browsers. Key features include:

• Palm-based biometric check-in
• Smart forms that skip repetitive questions  
• Real-time integration with internal systems  
• Built on Google Cloud Platform for scalability  

The results? Shorter check-in times, better patient satisfaction, and reduced staff workload. Future upgrades will include voice guidance, digital payments, and at-home check-in options.

• Improving Physician Utilization 

A leading provider was able to improve Physician Utilization by 9-11% by engaging patients from scheduling to consultation and follow-ups, which includes online consultation recommendations based on patient distance, time preferences, and other SDOH parameters, scheduling physicians for mobile consultations, and adding more options to scheduling, like off-business hours.  

• Educating Patients While on Treatment

With a focus on health outcomes, WinWire delivered a patient engagement & education solution to its partner for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) patients. The solution was to constantly educate the patient on the side effects of chemotherapy, the reason for the reduction in WBC and platelet count, the chances of infection, and others, with constant engagement by checking about their weight, blood pressure, fatigue level, temperature, joint pain, medication reminders, et.al.   

• Predicting Disease Prognosis Based on Images

A leading radiology service provider is engaging providers and patients by analyzing radiology images and predicting the disease progression so that patients and providers can initiate diagnosis.

• Improving the Case Intake Process

Pharmacovigilance (PV) Case Intake is a repetitive, error-prone process that impacts all PV processes and, thus, compliance. WinWire customers identified an easy and simpler approach to engaging with Patients and Providers by identifying data points from the PV perspective to improve completeness and reduce data capture errors.

Better Experiences, Better Returns

AI helps with care, but it also positively influences the bottom line. Patients who aren’t engaged are more likely to put off care or change physicians (losing care continuity) and miss what is really required from a care perspective.

And the financial case for AI is compelling. AI adoption in healthcare is expected to create major savings in the coming years. One estimate from McKinsey suggests that using current AI technologies could reduce healthcare spending by 5 to 10 percent—translating to about $200 billion to $360 billion annually. This includes savings across hospitals, physician groups, and private payers. 

For instance, AI can help predict patient volume and adjust staff schedules or automate tasks to reduce the administrative load. In fact, AI could generate $24 billion to $48 billion in yearly savings for hospitals and $10 billion to $30 billion for physician groups just by cutting down admin costs. These projections are based on what’s achievable within the next five years.

Meanwhile, Healthcare is Already Sitting on a Mountain of Data.

Every year, healthcare systems handle massive volumes—over 8 billion consultations, more than 170 million hospital admissions, and around 13 billion lab tests globally. So, the issue isn’t a lack of data—it’s making sense of it.

That’s where AI is starting to make a real difference.

Even home health is evolving—More than half of home-based service providers are using or plan to use AI to cut down operating costs, improve patient satisfaction, and increase revenue realization. 

Questions Healthcare Leaders Should Be Asking

You don’t have to decode AI yourself, but you do need to lead with the right mindset and ask:

• Are we solving real problems that patients actually face?
• Can our AI adapt as our needs evolve?
• Have we thought about security and privacy from day one?
• And when we say the patient experience is “better,” what does that actually mean, and how are we keeping track of it?

The Result?
AI isn’t here to replace the human side of care. It’s here to support it—by improving how caregivers and patients connect, making communication easier, keeping patients better informed, and encouraging them to take an active role in their health. The outcome? A smoother care journey, better results, and a healthcare experience that actually feels more human.