Virginia Health Care Authority ( WVHCA ). “ By using AI tools that are listening to their visits in real time , they are able to put their focus back at the bedside instead of spending time behind a computer , which improves the quality and outcomes of the health care .”
In terms of administrative support , AI is assisting with documentation and simplifying daily hospital operations — such as scheduling and supply chain management — enhancing efficiency and giving providers more time to focus on patient care .
AI ’ s rapid integration into medicine requires the acknowledgement of its pitfalls in order to continue moving in a positive direction .
“ AI in health care must be used responsibly . It mimics decisionmaking but lacks the human intuition essential to patient care ,” Spence says .
One major risk of using AI is the potential over-reliance on its decision-making . Human intuition and deep understanding for patient-centered care is paramount in health care , and AI may result in inadequate oversight and , therefore , relying too heavily on a powerful machine that lacks the advantageous decision-making qualities of a real person .
“ The future of AI in health care promises not only improved diagnostics but also enhanced patient engagement and increased accessibility to care ”
Another significant concern revolves around data bias .
“ AI systems rely on the data they are trained on , which means any biases present in that data can lead to biased outcomes ,” Spence says “ In health care , this could result in disparities in diagnoses or treatment recommendations , particularly if an AI system has been trained on data that doesn ’ t represent a diverse patient population . To mitigate these risks , ongoing oversight , careful data selection and continuous monitoring are necessary to ensure AI supports equitable and effective patient care .”
Data privacy and security are additional aspects the medical field must take into consideration , especially surrounding HIPPA regulations .
“ A lot of the challenge in AI is to anonymize the data . There are a lot of debates right now over how , or if it ’ s even possible , to do this . AI can go back and theoretically put together the information to identify a person ,” says Gordon Lane Jr , J . D ., CHC , general counsel for WVHCA . “ If we can ’ t find a way for it to be anonymous , then it could stop a lot of the AI tools from being used , and that especially comes up with things like clinical research .”
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