Artificial Intelligence and Patient Centeredness in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Haapalainen, Beda (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025051210796
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025051210796
Tiivistelmä
Artificial Intelligence (AI) brings a lot of opportunities to different industries such as the pharmaceutical industry. AI can make work more efficient and innovative. The aim of this thesis was to research AI and its connections to patient centeredness. Could patient centeredness be improved with AI? The goal was to design two AI tools that would boost patient centeredness.
The theoretical framework of this thesis was built around four subjects: AI, pharmaceutical industry, patient centeredness, and ethics. AI was researched from multiple different angles and an overall picture of AI usage in the pharmaceutical industry was formed. Patient centeredness was defined and what it meant in the specific industry. The effects that pharmaceutical companies have on patient centeredness was also evaluated. The pharmaceutical industry was researched and the regulations that it needs to follow were studied. Based on the theoretical framework the pros and cons of AI in the industry were discovered and new ideas on were to apply AI were gathered.
In the empiric part of the thesis a brainstorming session was held between three employees at a pharmaceutical company. Discussion about AI and how it could benefit the company, patient centeredness and AI tools was held. There was also discussion about patients and how they could be helped or educated more. After these discussions and shared thoughts, the conclusion was to design two AI tools. The first one was a regulatory aware AI assistant which would be used to check marketing materials from the compliance perspective. This would make work more efficient and possibly more material could be created. The second tool was a chatbot to a health information website migreeniinfo.fi to help patients navigate better on the website and get more information on their condition. The chatbot would be rule-based so it would not be able to discuss anything else than what it is thought to be safe and to follow the regulations.
As result to this thesis, it can be said that there is room for AI in the pharmaceutical industry from the patient centeredness perspective, but it is important to find a balance between technology and the regulations of the industry. The designed tools are concrete examples of how patient centeredness could be boosted in the future.
The theoretical framework of this thesis was built around four subjects: AI, pharmaceutical industry, patient centeredness, and ethics. AI was researched from multiple different angles and an overall picture of AI usage in the pharmaceutical industry was formed. Patient centeredness was defined and what it meant in the specific industry. The effects that pharmaceutical companies have on patient centeredness was also evaluated. The pharmaceutical industry was researched and the regulations that it needs to follow were studied. Based on the theoretical framework the pros and cons of AI in the industry were discovered and new ideas on were to apply AI were gathered.
In the empiric part of the thesis a brainstorming session was held between three employees at a pharmaceutical company. Discussion about AI and how it could benefit the company, patient centeredness and AI tools was held. There was also discussion about patients and how they could be helped or educated more. After these discussions and shared thoughts, the conclusion was to design two AI tools. The first one was a regulatory aware AI assistant which would be used to check marketing materials from the compliance perspective. This would make work more efficient and possibly more material could be created. The second tool was a chatbot to a health information website migreeniinfo.fi to help patients navigate better on the website and get more information on their condition. The chatbot would be rule-based so it would not be able to discuss anything else than what it is thought to be safe and to follow the regulations.
As result to this thesis, it can be said that there is room for AI in the pharmaceutical industry from the patient centeredness perspective, but it is important to find a balance between technology and the regulations of the industry. The designed tools are concrete examples of how patient centeredness could be boosted in the future.