Technology plays an important role in almost every aspect of our days and has helped to make our work and lives more efficient in numerous ways.
And when it comes to the healthcare system, technology has completely revolutionized space. Healthcare providers must deliver higher quality care, improve patient experience and outcomes, reduce costs, become more efficient, and apply the latest developments in drug therapy.
Yet amidst a public health crisis, enormous pressures are placed on provider workloads impacting patient safety risks and patient experiences. AI has the potential to impact workload and streamline workflows for healthcare workers.
Healthcare environments have enormous datasets to be leveraged, and it’s time to put this data to work where AI and machine learning methods are integrated into workflows to improve healthcare delivery for all stakeholders.
Benefits of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
AI in healthcare provides many benefits, including automating tasks, analyzing big patient data sets, clinical decision-making, increasing access to healthcare, and more.
Many repetitive tasks can be fully automated by AI, such as pre-authorizing insurance, follow-up on unpaid bills, and maintaining records, which will help any healthcare provider perform better at their job and improve patient outcomes.
According to Insider Intelligence, 30% of healthcare costs are associated with administrative tasks, so automating these tasks wherever possible will significantly impact healthcare costs.
Applying artificial intelligence, such as machine learning (ML), can reduce the time and resources necessary to examine and diagnose patients. ML algorithms can identify risk exponentially faster and more accurately than traditional healthcare workflows.
Additionally, AI can comb through and compile a large amount of clinical data to provide a more holistic view of the health status of patient populations. Medical personnel can save more lives by acting faster with AI and ML.
Studies show a significant gap in average life expectancy between developed and underdeveloped nations due to limited or zero healthcare accessibility. Developing countries lag behind their counterparts in leveraging innovative medical technologies to deliver appropriate patient care. Also, a shortage of qualified healthcare professionals and properly equipped healthcare centers impact care delivery. AI can provide a digital infrastructure that facilitates faster diagnosis of symptoms and triages patients to the right level of care to foster a more efficient healthcare system.
Additionally, AI can help mitigate the shortage of healthcare professionals in remote, low-resource areas by taking over specific duties. For example, using AI and ML for imaging allows for the interpretation of X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs.
Role of Chat GPT in Health Care, an AI Chatbot
Developed by the California-based company OpenAI, ChatGPT is an AI chatbot built around the GPT (Generative Pretrained Transformer) language model.
Released in November 2022, ChatGPT is the latest generation and a text-based tool that can produce human-like responses to text inputs.
There is a lot of discussion regarding its potential use in medicine, so let’s see what you can expect from it – at least in its current form.
7 Transformative Use Cases of Chat GPT in Ambulatory Care
While there are some limitations to ChatGPT, there are several cases where it can assist in an ambulatory setting:
Summarizing Medical Records
The ChatGPT algorithm does a reasonably good job in interpreting English-language texts, so it would provide summaries of patients’ existing medical records based on their family history, symptoms, and lab results, among others.
Summarizing and Analyzing Research Papers
For physicians not working in a specific field of specialization, ChatGPT could list keywords in an abstract or summarize a long and detailed research paper to help them make practice decisions.
Writing General Texts, Like Emails, or a Book Blurb
Administrative tasks and writing short texts like emails can take a lot of time. ChatGPT can generate and customize these types of tasks for individual needs and personal styles.
Answer Broad Health Questions
ChatGPT has shown to be effective in answering broad questions, which may be helpful in some cases; however, it will provide general answers that may be insufficient for physicians or other healthcare professionals.
For example, it can explain an artificial pancreas and how it works broadly but can’t advise physicians on specific technical details.
Work as a Chatbot
In a doctor’s office, ChatGPT can be used as a chatbot that could help answer patients’ questions, provide information about medical conditions and treatments, and assist with scheduling appointments.
While it can provide general health information that could be informative to patients and help them to make decisions about their care, it does not replace a real doctor. It cannot provide medical advice or diagnose medical conditions.
Perform Administrative Tasks
ChatGPT can improve workflow efficiency in ambulatory care clinics by assisting with administrative tasks like scheduling appointments.
Translate Complex Notes for Patients
In addition to summarizing and analyzing research papers, ChatGPT could translate complex documents for the patient, making it easier for them to understand.
Is ChatGPT HIPAA Compliant?
Currently, there is no way to use ChatGPT with a patient’s protected health information (PHI) in a manner that would be considered HIPAA compliant, according to the Compliancy Group.
The HIPAA Privacy Rule clearly states the need to limit access to PHI. The terms of use of ChatGPT allow them to use personal information gained from the use of their services, including log data, device information, and, most importantly, ChatGPT states:
We may automatically collect information about your use of the Services, such as the types of content that you view or engage with, the features you use, and the actions you take, as well as your time zone, country, the dates and times of access, user agent and version, type of computer or mobile device, computer connection, IP address, and the like.
For Web bots, like ChatGPT, to be HIPAA-compliant, the platform must follow all HIPAA requirements, like encryption in transit and at rest, strong passwords, training for employees, and so on.
Summary
AI in healthcare could improve the quality and efficiency of the delivery system by analyzing and extracting intelligent insights from the huge reams of healthcare data. Specific systems like ChatGPT can make healthcare processes in ambulatory care more efficient.
Even if ChatGPT isn’t quite ready or the proper fit for your clinic, technology can still be used to streamline workflows, improve communication and patient experience, improve diagnostics and health outcomes, and ensure proper medical billing and coding.
The Amazing Charts EHR platform can take your practice to the next level. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and to learn more!
