As physician use of digital health grows, many doctors are taking a seat at the table in designing, evaluating and implementing these tools to improve patient outcomes.
Adoption rates of digital health and augmented intelligence (AI) soared from 38% to 66% over the last year, according to AMA survey data (PDF).
“I think that's really exciting and very telling that many of these tools are perceived by our colleagues as something that is additive,” said Margaret Lozovatsky, MD, the AMA's vice president of digital health innovations and chief medical information officer.
“We are now getting to a place where these tools are part of our environment, and we have a new generation of physicians that have never practiced without using technology,” she said.
The big question is: how does the medical community capitalize on this?
Engaging physicians in meaningful use of technology to ensure that these tools deliver on clinical care is critical, said Dr. Lozovatsky. She was joined by David Rhew, MD, global chief medical officer and vice president of health care at Microsoft for a recent AMA webinar on AI and digital health.
The two physician tech experts discussed the barriers and facilitators influencing physician engagement, as well as effective strategies for health technology use and practical approaches for integrating these tools into clinical environments.
At least 68% of physicians see some advantage in using AI in their practices, according to the AMA’s survey research. Moreover, 70% of physicians want to be involved from design to implementation to integration, noted Dr. Lozovatsky.
To do this effectively, physicians need to become the “captain of the AI ship,” to figure out what AI workflows should look like, as well as the metrics for AI success, said Dr. Rhew. These touch points “require a clinical point of view in leadership,” he emphasized.
From AI implementation to digital health adoption and EHR usability, the AMA is fighting to make technology work for physicians, ensuring that it is an asset to doctors.
This includes the launch of the new AMA Center for Digital Health and AI, which will address four key areas that are pivotal to the long-term success of these technologies:
- Policy and regulatory leadership—working with regulators, policymakers and technology leaders to shape benchmarks for safe and effective use of AI in medicine and digital health tools.
- Clinical workflow integration—creating opportunities for physicians to shape AI and digital tools so they work within clinical workflows and enhance patient and clinician experience.
- Education and training—equipping physicians and health systems with knowledge and tools to integrate AI efficiently and effectively into practice.
- Collaboration—building partnerships across the tech, research, government and health care sectors to drive innovation aligned with patient needs.
Health AI helps find disease, cut burnout
“There's a lot of interest in looking at these tools and thinking about how we can decrease administrative burden while improving patient outcomes” and reducing medical errors, said Dr. Lozovatsky.
One of AI’s top uses is documentation, with tools helping with tasks such as translation and creating discharge summaries, said Dr. Lozovatsky.
Some physicians report that AI ambient scribes are saving them anywhere from 15 to 60 minutes a day of documentation time, said Dr. Rhew. Additionally, nearly 90% of physicians and other health professionals are reporting a better experience with this tool.
“We’ve actually demonstrated in many studies that it reduces burnout,” Dr. Rhew said.
AI is also being applied in large populations to identify undetected diseases. At a Texas clinic, AI was finding cases of diabetic retinopathy during routine retinal exams.
“You can also do screenings for cardiovascular disease, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, even biomarkers for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's” with AI, said Dr. Rhew.
Physician-led innovation improves outcomes
The physician’s voice matters in crafting AI solutions. Dr. Rhew cited several examples of physician-led innovation to emphasize the value of clinician input in defining problems, designing workflows, and setting success metrics.
At Kaiser Permanente, only 40% of patients were completing a cardiac rehabilitation program. Discussing the issue with the program’s physicians, Dr. Rhew learned that transportation challenges and job and family conflicts were preventing people from making their appointments. Ideally, it would be great if patients could do their rehab at home, the doctors said.
Dr. Rhew offered that Microsoft could put together an in-home cardiac rehab program that would leverage wearables, patches and phones to keep patients in the game. Through these improvements, completion rates increased to 80%, and readmissions dropped to less than 1%.
“We know from the medical literature that if you actually complete the program, you can save anywhere between seven and 17 lives,” he added. He noted that Microsoft has collaborated with numerous health care organizations to create the Trustworthy Responsible AI Network (TRAIN), designed to ensure AI's safe and effective deployment across health care sites.
Trust in AI must be earned
Physicians put a premium on tools that are easy to use, while offering a technical support component, said Dr. Lozovatsky. That said, cost continues to be a barrier in implementation.
Digital technologies need to show a return on investment and ensure that there's reimbursement pathways. Many discussions have centered on governance around these tools, to ensure that the output is reliable and compatible for clinical environments, said Dr. Lozovatsky. Very clear trust of the technology is a high priority, she added.
Explore the AMA STEPS Forward® toolkit, “Governance for Augmented Intelligence,” which is a comprehensive eight-step guide for health care organizations to establish a governance framework to implement, manage and scale AI solutions. Both the toolkit and webinar are available for CME on AMA Ed Hub™.
