How AI is Changing Healthcare: What Patients Need to Know

How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Medical Care: A Doctor’s Perspective

Is your doctor using artificial intelligence (AI) to help diagnose you? Could AI be summarizing your medical visits? While the use of AI in healthcare is still relatively new, its applications are expanding rapidly. However, many patients remain skeptical. A 2023 survey revealed that most Americans feel “significant discomfort” about AI-assisted healthcare.

Despite these concerns, AI is not going away. As technology continues to evolve, it is important to understand how AI is already being used in medical care, the potential benefits, and the associated risks.

To explore this, we spoke with Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN wellness expert, emergency physician, and adjunct associate professor at George Washington University. She provided valuable insights into AI’s role in diagnosis, treatment, and healthcare administration.

Dr. Wen explains that AI in healthcare generally falls into two categories: predictive AI and generative AI.

Predictive AI uses mathematical models and pattern recognition to anticipate patient outcomes. For example:

• Pneumonia Diagnosis: AI can analyze a patient’s medical history and clinical data to predict whether hospitalization is necessary.
• Sepsis Detection: Hospitals have implemented AI tools that detect sepsis early, reducing the time needed to administer life-saving treatments.
• Deterioration Monitoring: AI systems, like those used by Kaiser Permanente, track vital signs and lab results to alert medical teams when a patient’s condition is worsening.

Generative AI, like ChatGPT, creates human-like responses and summaries. In healthcare, it can:

• Summarize patient information and medical histories.
• Generate easy-to-understand instructions for patients.
• Assist doctors with drafting medical documentation and prior authorization letters for insurance approvals.

Although AI has impressive capabilities, concerns remain about “hallucinations,” where AI generates misleading or incorrect information. This underscores the need for careful validation before AI-based decisions are applied to patient care.

AI is already making a significant impact in diagnostics and treatment. Here are a few notable examples:

1. Colon Cancer Screening

• AI is improving colonoscopy accuracy by identifying and flagging potentially cancerous polyps in real-time. Studies have shown that AI-assisted colonoscopies reduce the rate of missed polyps, increasing early cancer detection.

2. Breast Cancer Detection

• AI is assisting radiologists in reading mammograms. Some AI-supported screening tools have been found to be as accurate as two trained radiologists and may improve cancer detection while reducing clinician workload.

3. AI for Sepsis and Patient Monitoring

• Hospitals are deploying AI-driven early warning systems to detect sepsis—an often-fatal infection—at an earlier stage, improving survival rates.
• Predictive AI is helping hospitals monitor critically ill patients, alerting medical teams when a patient’s condition deteriorates.

AI is also transforming healthcare beyond diagnostics.

• Ambient AI technology listens to doctor-patient conversations and drafts medical notes, saving time and improving efficiency.
• AI helps draft insurance authorization letters, reducing administrative burdens and allowing doctors to focus more on patient care.

While AI streamlines processes, concerns exist about its use in insurance claims. AI might assist insurance companies in processing claims, but it could also be used to deny coverage, making it harder for patients to appeal decisions. This highlights the need for strict regulations and oversight.

Patients may already be interacting with AI in their medical visits, whether through predictive algorithms influencing treatment decisions or AI-powered chatbots managing appointment scheduling. Here’s what you can do:

• Ask your doctor about how AI is being used in your healthcare.
• Review consent forms for AI-related disclosures.
• Know your privacy rights—medical records are protected under HIPAA laws in the U.S.

AI has the potential to revolutionize healthcare, but it must be used responsibly. While AI-driven innovations are improving diagnostics, treatment, and hospital efficiency, ongoing scrutiny is essential to ensure that AI tools are safe, accurate, and ethical.

Regulators, healthcare professionals, and technologists must work together to balance AI’s benefits with necessary precautions. As AI continues to evolve, the key question remains: How can we harness its power while maintaining patient trust and safety?