META Dec 2024 485.000 call

How a doctor at Amazon's AWS is using AI to improve healthcare

As AI and machine learning roll out across virtually every sector of the economy, bringing both cost savings and efficiencies, the biggest tech companies are racing to conquer what they see as the next frontier: healthcare. Dr. Angela Shippy, medical doctor-turned-physician executive at Amazon Web Services, is leading the charge at the world's biggest cloud provider. Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) and Meta (META) added $16 billion to their 2024 capex on AI spending this earnings season, a 31% increase from last year. Part of that capital is spent on healthcare, in an effort to target what many see as a broken system that has suffered from long-standing problems that were further exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic. “If we can take away those tiny administrative burdensome tasks and allow them to do what they truly love,” Dr. Shippy said, “then we know we're making it a better experience for them, and we're making it a better experience for the patient as well because they're in control.”Dr. Shippy is leveraging her background as a practicing clinician to inform her work as the Clinical Innovation Lead for healthcare at AWS. In her role, she connects with 700 healthcare providers across the country as they integrate AWS-powered tech solutions into their practices. While 56% of hospitals’ total operating revenue goes toward labor, the field is also challenged with managing labor shortages and increased patient volumes. Dr. Shippy aims to address these issues by deploying devices like Amazon Alexa to empower patients to make requests like turning a light on and off while reducing pressure on staff. Yahoo Finance gets a closer look at how Dr. Shippy is driving AWS’s next cloud revolution in healthcare and her plan for how AI will create a more equitable healthcare system overall.