2023-12-15 19:16:00
FRIDAY, Dec. 15, 2023 (HealthDay News) — American doctors have mixed feelings about the arrival of artificial intelligence (AI) into mainstream medical practice, a new survey shows.
The survey of nearly 1,100 doctors, conducted by the American Medical Association (AMA) in August, found that 41% of doctors said they were “equally excited and concerned” about AI in the workplace.
“Physicians are optimistic about the benefits that properly designed AI-enabled tools can have for patient care, and nearly two-thirds of physicians see an advantage in AI if key requirements are met,” he said in a statement from AMA press release from WADA President Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld. “The AMA survey illustrates that physicians’ best hope for AI lies in reducing the overwhelming administrative burdens that plague modern medicine, which drain healthcare resources and take physicians away from patient care.”
That’s the “positive” side, according to the survey: Sixty-nine percent of doctors thought AI would help with workflow efficiency during their busy days; another 54% said they were excited about AI that could ease the burden around “documentation”; and another 48% hoped it could reduce the bureaucracy of prior authorization for insurance coverage.
In terms of actual patient care, 72% thought AI could be useful in better diagnosing patients, and 61% hoped it could help improve patients’ clinical outcomes.
Concerns around AI focused on its impact on doctor-patient interactions, with 39% of doctors concerned that the technology could harm that relationship. Another 41% were concerned about the impact of AI on patient privacy.
AI is already making inroads into hospitals and doctors’ offices, according to the AMA survey: More than a third (38%) of doctors said they were already using it.
While only 11% said they had used it so far to help with diagnosis, a larger percentage said they had used AI to help with office paperwork or translation services.
More information
There is more information about the role of AI in medicine at Harvard University.
SOURCE: American Medical Association, press release, December 14, 2023
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