“AI is essentially expanding and reshaping and personalizing telehealth practices in triaging, image analysis, patient diagnosis, treatment planning, surveillance and mental health.”
Why is this important: Artificial intelligence (AI) is a growing phenomenon in today's world. Writing emails, creating marketing tools, writing speeches, creating lesson plans, answering everyday questions, and AI is all around us and has a huge impact. Specifically, in the healthcare and healthcare world, AI is expanding, restructuring and personalizing telehealth practices in a variety of ways.
Create a doctor appointment and think about the process that goes afterwards. First, you will need to make an appointment, either by calling or using AI through contact centre assistance. AI-powered assistance can handle scheduling, provide appointment reminders, medication reminders, and answer simple medical questions. Not only that, innovative AI chatbots can also be consumed before a provider visit, possibly reducing waiting times and increasing patient involvement. New technologies in AI not only support during pre-appointment, but AI is also being used during medical imaging analysis, patient diagnosis, treatment planning and medical evaluation for patient monitoring. All of these improve care, reduce waiting times and provide support to medical staff and personnel.
The rise of AI in the medical world certainly has its advantages, but it also has its important drawbacks. Implementing AI tools is not only expensive, but also involves risks for patient privacy and HIPAA violations. Additionally, patients may feel less connected or support from providers. This is especially important for the healthcare sector that deals with mental and behavioral health. Human interaction is what makes us feel like we have a community. Perhaps AI in the healthcare world is creating easier access and options for individuals to receive care, but questions remain as to whether AI can actually meet all of our needs. Are the trade-offs between rapid care of human interaction and connections sufficient to support the promotion of AI? In certain practices, advantages outweigh disadvantages such as emergency care, where time and efficiency are essential. However, perhaps in other areas of practice, human support and community needs need to be less dependent on AI and rely on building trust with patients.
All doctors have vowed to treat, care for, do no harm and outweigh the patients. If the use of AI violates these promises, it may be time to reconsider the reasons behind the need or necessary AI in the healthcare world, regardless of its interests. — addelyn C. Slyh, summer associate
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