Doctors in many health systems, like UC San Diego Health, now get about 200 messages each week from patients. These messages include things like booking appointments, asking for prescription refills, and more complicated medical questions. The large number of messages adds to doctors’ work and can cause stress. Doctors can spend up to 28 hours a week just on paperwork and answering patient messages, not counting the time with patients. This can affect how happy they are with their jobs and how well they talk with patients.
Patients want more than just quick answers. They want responses that show care and really understand their worries. It is hard to do this when doctors have so many messages and not enough time.
Generative AI is a type of computer program that can create new content, like writing text, based on the information it learned. In healthcare, it can help write replies to patient messages inside electronic health record (EHR) systems like Epic. UC San Diego Health has tried this out since April 2023.
The main job of generative AI here is to help draft replies that show care. It does not make the actual sending of messages faster, but it helps doctors by giving them draft replies that are thoughtful and kind. Doctors can then change these drafts to fit what they want to say. This helps when doctors feel stuck trying to write their answers and makes sure replies have the right care and details.
Dr. Christopher Longhurst, a lead researcher at UC San Diego Health, said AI-made messages were usually longer and better than messages written without AI help. Doctors liked this support because it made their work feel easier, letting them spend more time on hard medical decisions while still keeping good communication with patients.
Doctors say generative AI helps them keep their answer quality steady, even after a full day at work. Dr. Marlene Millen, Chief Medical Officer at UC San Diego Health, said AI’s ability to write kind replies without getting tired helps doctors’ mental health and keeps patients happy. AI is not meant to replace human care, but to work alongside doctors and support them.
The study made sure to tell patients when AI helped write answers before the doctor checked them. This openness helps patients trust the process while letting technology be part of care.
At Johns Hopkins Medicine, patient portal use grew by 60% in one year. They use an AI tool called Co-Pilot to manage over a million message threads by sorting simpler questions first. This helps doctors spend more time on harder cases. For healthcare managers, this shows how AI can help organize work better.
Doctor burnout is a big problem. Many doctors have too much paperwork and other duties on top of caring for patients. The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) reported saving over 15,800 hours of doctor documentation time in one year by using AI scribes. This led to an 84% improvement in patient communication and an 82% rise in doctor job satisfaction.
AI messaging does not always make answering faster but helps reduce mental tiredness. Doctors sometimes feel stuck when writing replies, especially when rushed. AI drafts give a starting point to build kind, well-thought-out messages, easing this pressure.
Clinic managers and IT staff can support their teams by using AI tools like Simbo AI’s automated phone answering and message drafting. This can help improve work flow and make clinics run smoother.
One big benefit of using AI in healthcare is making front-office and admin work easier. For example, Simbo AI offers automation for phone answering and routine patient messaging. It handles about 70% of common calls. This lowers the workload for front-office staff by taking care of appointment bookings, prescription requests, and general questions. Staff can then focus on harder tasks.
Research shows AI phone systems like Simbo AI can improve how clinics run by 15% to 30%. For clinic owners and managers, this leads to saving money and better patient service. Patients wait less, get faster answers, and feel more satisfied.
AI communication tools also work with existing EHR systems like Epic. This means clinics do not need to make big changes to use them. AI can gather patient data and create caring message drafts inside these systems. This helps doctors without interrupting their clinical work.
When healthcare uses AI, patient privacy and following rules become very important. HIPAA rules protect patient information and limit who can see or use it. AI companies in healthcare must follow these rules to keep patient data safe.
Patients trust AI more when the use of it is clear. Surveys show about 80% of patients want to know when AI helps in their care communication. Clinics should tell patients clearly whenever AI assists in drafting messages or answering calls. Simbo AI and similar companies mark AI-generated communications before doctors review them. This helps keep patient trust and informed consent.
Even as AI plays a bigger role in communication, healthcare leaders say the human part must stay strong. Dr. Robert Pearl, former CEO of Kaiser Permanente, said AI can help make care efficient and less costly, but it cannot replace human kindness. Dr. Anthony Orsini, in a podcast about hard healthcare talks, said caring communication is still very important, especially for sensitive topics like end-of-life care or chronic illness.
Medical teachers want doctors to have training in communication and palliative care skills. This ensures doctors can have these talks thoughtfully. AI messages should be tools that help doctors, not replace their ability to connect with patients.
Keeping a balance between technology and human care is key as U.S. healthcare faces growing patient message demands and worries about doctor well-being.
The pilot projects at UC San Diego Health and Johns Hopkins Medicine show important early steps in adding generative AI to healthcare messages. The technology has not yet made replies much faster, but it helps reduce mental stress and improve message quality. This may change how doctors and patients interact.
Clinic managers, owners, and IT staff should think about these results when choosing communication tools. Using AI products like Simbo AI’s phone answering and message drafting can help give patients better experiences and protect doctors from too much paperwork.
Healthcare groups in the U.S. keep testing generative AI tools while focusing on safety, clear use, and rules. This work will help find the best ways to use AI to support caring and efficient healthcare without losing the human connection that is central to medicine.
The study focuses on the use of generative AI to draft compassionate replies to patient messages within Epic Systems electronic health records, aiming to enhance physician-patient communication.
The study found that while AI-generated replies did not reduce physician response time, they did lower the cognitive burden on doctors by providing empathetic drafts that physicians could edit.
The senior author is Christopher Longhurst, MD, who is also the executive director of the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Health Innovation.
It evaluated the quality of communication and the cognitive load on physicians, suggesting that AI can help mitigate burnout by facilitating more thoughtful responses.
AI is seen as a collaborative tool because it assists physicians by generating drafts that incorporate empathy, allowing doctors to respond more effectively to patient queries.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented rise in digital communications between patients and providers, creating a demand for timely responses which many physicians struggle to meet.
Generative AI helps by drafting longer, empathetic responses to patient messages, which can enhance the quality of communication while reducing the initial writing workload for physicians.
A greater response length typically indicates better quality of communication, as physicians can provide more comprehensive and empathetic replies to patients.
The study suggests a potential paradigm shift in healthcare communication, highlighting the need for further analysis on how AI-generated empathy impacts patient satisfaction.
UC San Diego Health, alongside the Jacobs Center for Health Innovation, is testing generative AI models to explore safe and effective applications in healthcare since May 2023.
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