Generative artificial intelligence has seen a resurgence in recent months after OpenAI’s ChatGPT wowed the public with its achievements. However, according to a new GE Healthcare (GEHC) survey, healthcare remains an area of intense skepticism.
According to the international GE survey, at least 55% of medical professionals say that AI is not yet ready for medical use. 42% of respondents globally – and only 26% in the US – believe AI can do this be familiar. The survey involved 7,500 clinicians, including physicians, physician assistants and public health professionals, as well as patients and patient advocates in eight countries.
dr Taha Kass-Hout, GE Healthcare’s chief technology officer, who champions the use of AI and technology in healthcare, said he understands the concerns expressed in the study, which are also echoed in recent work by BMJ, a medical journal, reflected. “Risks associated with medicine and healthcare include the potential for AI bugs that could result in patient harm (and) privacy and data security issues,” BMJ said.)
…the experience sucks. Getting data out (is) really, really hard, Dr. Taha Kass-Hout, CTO of GE Healthcare
Kass-Hout said it’s important to address the needs and pain points of physicians, who are often dealing with technology that isn’t intuitive or easy to use for their jobs. The prime example is Electronic Health Records, also known as Electronic Medical Records (EMRs).
“Right now there are engineers designing the systems. EMR is the system of record for the data and the summary of all this information. But every clinician has to go there, and I mean the experience sucks. Getting data out (is) really, really hard,” said Kass-Hout.
The involvement of physicians in the development of the systems is also crucial, especially since 42% of respondents indicated that they are actively interested in leaving the industry.
The departures are a result of significant burnout from the pandemic and an overall shift in overall job satisfaction. AI implementation could overwhelm many workers, especially older ones.
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However, he pointed out that there are already many areas where AI is being used successfully, including medical imaging and the collection and analysis of health data.
Kass-Hout pointed out that radiologists, for example, can spend several hours dissecting layers and angles of images to help pinpoint cancer precisely. AI could shorten the search to 15-20 minutes.
“Now you can imagine that time falls back to the radiologists. So we’re really working on hard tasks and problems that we’re solving in this clinical workflow,” he said.
But he also knows that trust is a major hurdle for both patients and doctors. According to the GE survey, 39 percent of patients said they felt their health information was not being kept secure.
“Training is very important. It’s not just about giving them a manual to read,” said Kass-Hout.
There are now widespread concerns about how AI should be regulated overall, and the FDA is grappling with how to regulate the use of AI and digital tools in the industry. New rules could go a long way in making workers more comfortable with the new technology.
Still, Kass-Hout is confident that AI can be introduced quickly and easily.
“When Fahrenheit invented the thermometer,” he said, “it took 100 years for it to be accepted and trusted. Hopefully it doesn’t take 100 years for AI.”
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