Inês Margarida Lopes, MSc Student and Member of the Nova SBE Health Economics & Management Knowledge Center, attended Medica AI – The Conference at the Champalimaud Foundation. In her reflections, she explores how artificial intelligence is reshaping medicine and why preventive care is not only a clinical priority, but also an economic necessity for the sustainability of healthcare systems.
Inês Margarida Lopes:
On July 16, 2025, in the occasion of Artificial Intelligence Appreciation Day, the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon hosted the 2nd edition of Medica AI – The Conference. This pivotal event brought together global researchers, doctors, scientists, and entrepreneurs to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping medicine and healthcare. The program addressed topics ranging from medical innovation to healthcare sustainability, highlighting how emerging technologies can improve care while tackling economic challenges.
The conference featured a compelling lineup of presentations showcasing the latest advancements in medical research and their real-world impacts. Topics spanned from machine learning in breathomics for early lung cancer detection (Duarte Vaz, 2025) to AI solutions enabling individuals with speech impairments to regain their voice through advanced vocal synthesis (Farinha, 2025). A standout session, “Neuro-AI: Rewiring Recovery”, presented by Marta Dombi & Valeria Spagnolo, demonstrated how AI is revolutionizing neurorehabilitation, with neural interfaces helping paraplegic individuals regain mobility. These breakthroughs mark a significant step toward addressing conditions once deemed untreatable, offering hope for enhanced quality of life
Yet, one might wonder: How does this relate to health economics? As an interconnected system, much like a neural network, every advancement in healthcare ties back to broader economic implications. But how is this achieved, you might ask?
The integration of AI into healthcare addresses pressing challenges facing global healthcare systems, particularly their unsustainability. Developed countries face rising healthcare costs, aging populations, and severe workforce shortages. For instance, one-third of EU adults live with at least one chronic disease, and the region contends with a shortage of 2.1 million healthcare workers (European Commission, 2024 & 2025). Additionally, during the 1990s and 2000s, OECD countries generally saw health spending outpace the rest of the economy, leading to an almost continual rise in the health expenditure to GDP ratio (OECD, 2023). These challenges underscore the importance of transitioning from a reactive, interventive model to a preventive approach focused on early detection, health promotion, and long-term risk reduction, which can improve population health outcomes while containing costs.
Preventive medicine is not only a more effective strategy from a clinical perspective, but also from an economic one. Early interventions reduce the incidence of complications and hospitalizations, minimize long-term treatment costs, and allow healthcare resources to be allocated more efficiently. For example, routine screenings, lifestyle interventions, and patient monitoring can prevent chronic disease progression, which is a major driver of healthcare expenditure. By focusing on prevention rather than intervention, health systems can simultaneously improve population health and economic sustainability.
AI is not about replacing clinicians but enhancing current medical practices. Such examples can be observable through innovations like AI-driven digital twins in the operating room (Marques, 2024) and opportunistic screening at scale (Santinha, 2025). These technologies improve diagnostic accuracy and treatment efficiency. Notably, AI-based Type II diabetes detection through voice analysis (Fossat, 2024) has already been integrated into some national healthcare systems (Canada), demonstrating its potential to deliver cost-effective, precise solutions.
While technology can support these efforts, the broader lesson is that strategic investment in preventive approaches and system redesign is crucial. Healthcare sustainability depends on policies that encourage proactive management of health risks, strengthen primary care, and integrate cross-sector solutions. As highlighted in the presentation “Drowning in a Sea of Data, Starving for Knowledge: Transforming R&D with AI” by David Roblin, drug approvals per billion dollars of R&D have fallen by about 9.4% annually since the 1950s and healthcare spending has risen with only modest life-expectancy gains. These trends show that spending more alone is insufficient. Preventive strategies and effective regulations to integrate new innovations are essential for lasting improvements.
However, achieving these goals requires more than technological solutions. Policymakers must align regulation with innovation to ensure that effective interventions are implemented efficiently and equitably. Slow adoption or fragmented policy can hinder the economic benefits of improved healthcare strategies, leaving systems vulnerable to rising costs and workforce strain.
Medica AI – The Conference offered an enriching environment to explore the intersection of AI innovation and healthcare, however also pressing an important message for health economics: current healthcare systems are under strain, and a shift toward preventive care is essential. Investments in early intervention, evidence-based policies, and sustainable system design can reduce costs, improve population health, and secure the future of healthcare. Aligning innovation, policy, and economic strategy is critical to ensure that healthcare systems remain effective, resilient, and equitable in the face of demographic and financial pressures.
References
Duarte Vaz, P. (2025). AI meets Breathomics in the Race for Early Lung Cancer Detection. In Medica AI – The Conference (Champalimaud Foundation, 16 July 2025). Retrieved from https://www.fchampalimaud.org/events/medica-ai-conference-0
Farinha, C. (2025). The Right to Speak: Designing AI for Dignity, Voice and Autonomy. In Medica AI – The Conference (Champalimaud Foundation, 16 July 2025). Retrieved from https://www.fchampalimaud.org/events/medica-ai-conference-0
Dombi, M., & Spagnolo, V. (2025). Neuro-AI: Rewiring Recovery – How AI is Transforming Neurohabilitation. In Medica AI – The Conference (Champalimaud Foundation, 16 July 2025). Retrieved from https://www.fchampalimaud.org/events/medica-ai-conference-0
European Commission. (2024). Health status statistics: Long-standing illnesses and health problems. Eurostat. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?oldid=652859
European Parliament. (2025). The healthcare workforce in the EU: Challenges and shortages. European Parliamentary Research Service. Retrieved September 2, 2025, from https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2025/767231/EPRS_ATA%282025%29767231_EN.pdf
OECD. (2023). Health at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators. OECD Publishing. Retrieved September 2, 2025, from https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/health-at-a-glance-2023_7a7afb35-en.html
Marques, T. (2024). Surgery Without Guesswork: AI-driven digital twins in the operating room. In Medica AI – The Conference (Champalimaud Foundation, 16 July 2025). Retrieved from https://www.fchampalimaud.org/events/medica-ai-conference-0
Santinha, J. (2025). Smart Systems, Timely Diagnoses: AI-Driven Opportunistic Screening at Scale. In Medica AI – The Conference (Champalimaud Foundation, 16 July 2025). Retrieved from https://www.fchampalimaud.org/events/medica-ai-conference-0
Fossat, Y. (2024). The Sound of Diasease: Detecting Diabetes through Voice and AI. In Medica AI – The Conference (Champalimaud Foundation, 16 July 2025). Retrieved from https://www.fchampalimaud.org/events/medica-ai-conference-0.
Roblin, D. (2025). Drowning in a Sea of Data, Starving for Knowledge: Transforming R&D with AI. In Medica AI – The Conference (Champalimaud Foundation, 16 July 2025). Retrieved from https://www.fchampalimaud.org/events/medica-ai-conference-0