In a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a crucial ally for doctors in communicating with their patients. New AI tools are assisting physicians by answering messages and taking notes during exams, a development that is reshaping the doctor-patient relationship while raising important questions about trust, transparency, privacy, and the future of human connection.
Here’s how these advancements in AI are impacting patients:
Is My Doctor Using AI? Recent advancements have seen medical devices equipped with machine learning capabilities for tasks such as reading mammograms and diagnosing eye diseases. However, what’s truly groundbreaking is the ability of generative AI to respond to complex instructions by predicting language.
Your doctor may now utilize an AI-powered smartphone app during your check-up, which listens, documents, and organizes information into a readable note for later reference. This not only saves time but also ensures comprehensive documentation that could benefit the doctor’s practice financially.
Doctors are required to seek patient consent before utilizing such tools, and patients may notice new language in consent forms at their doctor’s office. However, some doctors may not explicitly disclose their use of AI-generated messages.
Will AI Make Mistakes? While AI tools offer efficiency, there’s the risk of misinterpretation or inaccuracies, termed as “hallucination.” To mitigate this, internal guardrails are implemented to prevent errors from reaching patients or electronic health records.
Doctors play a crucial role as the ultimate safeguard, reviewing AI-generated notes for accuracy. Tools like Abridge even allow doctors to listen to specific segments of the patient’s visit to verify accuracy.
What About the Human Touch? AI tools can emulate friendliness and empathy, but they may occasionally misconstrue information, leading to inaccurate or alarming messages. However, they also offer benefits such as freeing up doctors to engage more fully with patients during appointments.
Doctors using AI tools are adapting by verbally narrating exams, enhancing patient understanding and engagement. This narrative approach also ensures that the AI tool captures accurate data.
What About Privacy? Stringent regulations require healthcare systems to ensure the protection of patient information shared with AI tools. While data may be used to improve these tools, assurances of data security are provided to maintain patient confidentiality.
Doctors express confidence in the security measures of AI tools, believing that patient data is safeguarded against breaches.
As AI continues to integrate into healthcare practices, it holds the potential to enhance patient care while reshaping traditional doctor-patient interactions. However, ensuring trust, transparency, and privacy remain paramount as these technologies evolve.
