By Erin Fitzgerald, CMO at Sermo
Since its release in November, it feels like every industry has produced testimonials and forecasts about the potential ChatGPT has to disrupt the status quo. This is true for physicians and healthcare as well. However, in an industry as regulated as medicine, how are HCPs reacting to this new technology?
Surprisingly more bullish than might be expected; a recent Sermo poll of 524 global physicians found 44% of physicians see themselves asking ChatGPT for patient treatment recommendations.
Maybe this optimism shouldn’t feel so shocking. While it may be early in ChatGPT’s adoption, Artificial Intelligence in healthcare is not new. AI has been a popular topic for over a decade, promising to improve diagnosis, imaging, and procedures. This is just the next generation.
But, will ChatGPT help or harm healthcare?
Do HCPs see ChatGPT as a clinical or admin tool?
The split between how physicians forecast they would use ChatGPT was especially noticeable when it comes to patient care versus administrative assistance. The study found 29% prefer assistance with medical delivery and 46% chose admin tasks.
What admin tasks could the AI platform help solve? The two most popular include drafting insurance letters for prior authorization (36%) and post-procedure patient instructions (29%).
Clinically, 51% believe an AI tool like ChatGPT would be useful in speeding up the process of creating personalized treatment plans.
How ChatGPT could impact healthcare
Burnout is at an all-time high. Finding solutions that can scale into rural and international care locations without expensive machines is critical to alleviating the burden on the global workforce.
Physicians are already posting about their experiments using ChatGPT as a new time-saving tool. One clinical user asked ChatGPT to write a sample letter to a medical insurance company to explain why a patient should be approved for treatment. Other initial use cases include:
Beyond just administrative efficiencies, ChatGPT is looking to apply its skills to clinical assistance. ChatGPT passed the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination; with the appropriate clinical training, one day this tool could help physicians:
Will we be paging Dr. ChatGPT?
Despite all the excitement around the potential of ChatGPT, heavy skepticism remains for current implications. And timelines are not immediate; 48% believe ChatGPT will only have a slight impact on medicine in the next year.
Instead of AI becoming the doctor, AI should help augment the provider. A shift in authority is not an option many so easily accept: “ChatGPT is the next version of PAs and NPs in the erosion of physician control and autonomy” wrote a Sermo Physician.
That said, there is still energy about its benefits. One Sermo physician wrote: “I am very excited about the ways that AI and technology can impact care! I believe that it will improve diagnostic accuracy and can help to reduce mistakes in patient care.”
More and more information and use cases will appear for ChatGPT, but it is important to keep in perspective that healthcare rarely sees wholesale transformation overnight. According to Sermo Medical Advisory Board Member and physician, Dr. Zachary Horne, “right now, a publicly available AI platform shouldn’t be used for medical decision-making. The system hasn’t been validated for such a use, but it will be interesting to see how the technology evolves.”
Patient safety is at the core of our industry, so while exciting, ChatGPT may not be the immediate disruptor many are forecasting. But that shouldn’t dismiss its achievements in just a few months or dissuade a future where more technology like this begins impacting the day-to-day in medicine.
About Sermo Engaging with more than 1.3 million HCPs across 150 countries, we offer a unique physician-first online community that allows clinicians to communicate about issues that are important to them and their patients. Learn more
This article was originally published in the X Report — an IMPACTX2050 publication providing thematic coverage of 3 tech-led industries experiencing unprecedented inflows of impact investments: Education, Health and Food.