AI chatbots are everywhere these days, helping to write emails or draft resumes and answer users’ burning questions about everything from their love life to medical advice.
That has become a point of contention in the healthcare space. Some providers say new AI tools are making healthcare better, while others worry about the accuracy of the medical advice users are receiving.
Dr. Philip Bernard serves as chief medical information officer for Children’s Health Dallas, and talked to NTX Now hosts Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning about how this new technology is affecting patients.
These interview highlights have been edited for length and clarity. To hear the conversation in full, click the ‘play’ button above.
People in this country who are underinsured might be in rural areas where they don’t have access to healthcare. There may be a fear that if they seek medical attention without insurance, they’re going to be stuck with a high bill. Do you think that’s driving some of these decisions to seek out AI chatbots for solutions?
I think there is great hope in the future that we’re going to be able to use not just chat bots, but augmented intelligence to decrease healthcare costs, increase availability, and increase access to all.
One of the really interesting things about technology—it is adopted by the privileged upper middle class first, and there’s a lot of equity issues associated with it. AI has completely blown up that model. All social economic classes are using it in equal weights. So, it does have the opportunity to be the great equalizer when it comes to healthcare access.
You sound to me like you’re among those who are willing to embrace AI. if it’s a partner in the process of medical care and treatment along with a doctor and could actually bring the cost of healthcare down as it advances and becomes more refined.
The reality is, patients are already using it and if we take the stance of ‘thou shall not use AI’ that’s just not based in reality. They’re going to use it and we want them to use it to improve their health. Just make sure that you use it while you’re under the care of a physician that you really trust.
I understand you’re using AI products that are specifically designed to help you help patients with better outcomes.
We’re starting to see more and more chatbots actually incorporated into our workflows, so that it does prevent that extra call to the physician or that extra visit to the clinician. For instance, if you’re having a knee replacement and you have questions about the treatment after you go home, there are ways chatbots can interact with that patient in a safe, reliable manner, making sure that you’re under the care of a physician and their team rather than an all or nothing approach.
So I’m very excited about where a lot of these companies are taking this. ChatGPT is the one everyone thinks about, but there are these healthcare applications that are responsible, that don’t either over diagnose or under diagnose the patient, but actually helps them to get care, to know when they need to come back into the emergency room, to reassure them that, yes, your recovery is exactly as we would expect.
I do think there’s a lot of hope, but I think the pushback you get from a lot of physicians is we’re just going to completely forget the last 200 years of medical education and medical advancement, and now we’re going to rely on a technology that doesn’t have context. That’s really where the biggest issue with augmented intelligence is.
Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning are the hosts of KERA’s NTX Now. Got a tip? Email Miranda at msuarez@kera.org or Ron at rcorning@kera.org.
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