AI serves as the cornerstone of a new consumer-oriented phase of health care
AI helping medical workers care for heart conditions
Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel outlines how the medical field is working to integrate artificial intelligence to care for heart conditions.
The rapid transformation of the health care landscape is undeniable. It is marked not only by groundbreaking technologies and modern solutions shaping patient treatment, but also by a profound shift in how patients engage with the medical system and their accompanying expectations.
Years ago, patients could have been seen as more passive recipients of care; today they are empowered and educated "consumers" who desire to be part of their care decisions.
The argument can be made that patients have been the strongest force in driving the shift in how care is delivered today. In many ways, this shift offers the promise to benefit both patients and clinicians alike.
AI’s ability to distill mass amounts of data quickly can arm both clinicians and patients with access to results faster. (iStock)
Furthermore, this momentum has propelled personalization in care forward, increasing engagement between clinician and patient with the expectation for frequent communication while prioritizing data privacy.
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To meet these evolving expectations, AI has emerged as the linchpin.
Cancer care alone is a powerful example of how AI can serve as an aid to bring consumer expectations to life when it comes to how health care is delivered.
The first expectation out of the "consumer playbook," is the concept of efficiency. Time is valuable, and responses or services are expected to be virtually instantaneous.
While many understand health and its services can take time, largely for quality and safety purposes, the underlying expectation of speed still looms. This is an area where AI can help.
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The technology’s ability to distill mass amounts of data quickly can arm both clinicians and patients with access to results faster, and in turn, allow for more timely conversations around care.
What’s more, is the ability of AI to take this data and transform it into a personalized treatment plan. This is the second page of the consumer handbook – personalization.
Patients no longer expect to be treated as generic cases with uniform treatment regimens, but rather as individuals with distinct care needs and desires. Important personal preferences that should impact treatment recommendations include the desire to live the highest quality of life, to simplify logistics, and to care for their mental well-being –all of which are areas that can be impacted by the treatment selected.
In prostate cancer care, clinicians already have the opportunity to integrate an AI-enabled test that includes both predictive information on whether a patient will benefit from a particular therapy and a prognostic risk score to support personalized treatment.
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The opportunity for the clinician and patient to access and assess information about the benefits of a treatment can increase confidence and this confidence can provide a myriad of benefits, including better adherence to the selected treatment, and better mental well-being.
Another way today’s patients prove they are also today’s consumers is that they are educated. Similar to researching a product or service outside of health care, they won’t hesitate to do the heavy lifting of sleuthing when it comes to their care.
Gone are the days when patients were simply told the course of treatment. Instead, they display a desire to understand how and why this treatment will work – as is their right; after all, patients are the ones who must live with the results.
Side effects of many cancer treatments can impact daily life and even be long-lasting, and many patients and loved ones want to have the option to make data-driven decisions about whether the treatment option is one they agree with.
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Increasingly, patients may turn to AI-based health information tools to better understand their diagnosis and treatment options, which may improve the discussion and shared decision-making process with their physician.
Finally, no matter what the use case of AI, there has been a push for privacy, ensuring that data not only remains private but that it is also secure. The stakes for privacy are significantly higher in health care.
Medical data is often deeply personal and sensitive and should be handled with utmost care. Patients look to clinicians and AI developers to prioritize responsible data practices, implement robust security measures, and offer accessible explanations about AI's role in their care.
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In an era marked by instant information and heightened consumer expectations, AI serves as the cornerstone to build the new phase of health care. Patients will continue to expect access to education, more transparency, and responsible data practices.
While some of these concepts may appear new or evolved, the core of health care remains – putting the patient’s needs first.
Timothy N. Showalter is a radiation oncologist and chief medical officer of ArteraAI.
