What is Needed to Make GenAI Work for Users in Healthcare?

Application-centric AI and Auto-formalization

As discussed in the previous blog , administrative processes in healthcare may be a high-value target for impact by artificial intelligence (AI). However, many technical challenges remain in translating what is possible in theory with AI into practice, particularly from a user experience perspective.

Clearly, AI has enormous potential. For example, what if all the contextual data needed by any physician could be retrieved with a single request? Including information exchanged between the patient and the physician and data pertaining to external medical events (e.g., laboratory test results, hospital stays, etc.)? What if the physician does not need to navigate the electronic health record (EHR) during the patient visit? What if the information is delivered in the appropriate format, such as text, graphs, or images? All of this is achievable with AI. However, much remains to be done to turn this possibility into reality, beginning with the challenge of taming AI and managing the consequent change in user experience. 

Application-centric AI 

One way to minimize change experienced by users is to seamlessly integrate AI capabilities into the workflows – process, data, and user experience – that clinicians prefer. For example, the default set of information displayed at the beginning of a patient visit should be accessible from places where physicians navigate to in the EHR anyway. Furthermore, this information should be relevant and customized to the patient's needs, such that a 12-year-old child's visit for an asthma check-up will elicit a different set of information compared to a 70-year-old woman presenting for a Medicare physical. Similarly, AI should deliver responses in an appropriate format that is best suited to the context. Whether the visit is for a routine exam, a follow-up after a procedure, or a new medical problem, the AI should determine, based on previous learning, what contextual information is necessary for the physician in each situation and deliver the entire picture with one request. Overall, compelling user experiences are not delivered in isolation. They must be in the context of the clinical situation process and data relevant to that situation.