How AI can Improve Patient-Physician Interactions

🧠 AI for Bridging Doctor–Patient–Family Miscommunication in Healthcare 💬 In today’s precision-driven yet fragmented healthcare system, communication failures remain one of the most overlooked threats to patient safety—fueling nearly 30% of malpractice claims and over $1.7B in avoidable harm. These aren’t isolated breakdowns—they’re systemic gaps that span legal, clinical, emotional, ethical, and structural domains. 🧑⚖️ Imagine a terminal cancer patient’s end-of-life wishes ignored because a DNR wasn't documented. 👶 Or immigrant parents blindsided by a child’s surgical complication due to lack of interpretation. 👨👩👦 Or shared guardianship overlooked during a pediatric emergency. These are real-world failures of communication infrastructure—not intention. 🤖 But here’s where AI changes the game. 📜 Consent Intelligence Agents use NLP to ensure informed consent is understood and documented. 📱 Health chatbots like Penny and Northwell's virtual assistants extend post-visit engagement. 🧾 After-Visit Summaries, ambient transcription, and teach-back automation improve patient comprehension and safety. 🧘♀️ Generative AI models help clinicians craft emotionally attuned responses to patients and simulate difficult conversations with cultural and ethical nuance. 👨👧👦 Consent Verification AI ensures legal surrogates are properly engaged in care decisions. 🌐 Multilingual AI tools like Canopy bridge language barriers and help patients feel seen, heard, and understood. 📊 Most powerfully, AI is no longer just a tool—it’s becoming the infrastructure of relational safety in healthcare. Structured, searchable, equitable conversations are now possible—across time, care teams, and systems. 🚨 But with great power comes new responsibilities: ✅ Rigorous validation ✅ Cultural sensitivity ✅ Transparent disclosure of AI’s role ✅ AI that amplifies—not replaces—the human voice in medicine #AIinHealthcare #HealthEquity #InformedConsent #DigitalHealth #GenerativeAI #HealthLiteracy #PatientCenteredCare #ClinicalCommunication #HealthTech #AIethics #PediatricCare #MedTech #AIagents #AmbientAI

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲 * TEDx Talk Time is one of the most precious resources in healthcare, yet it’s often in short supply.𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝟒𝟒% 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. With the global shortage of healthcare workers projected to reach 10 million by 2030, this challenge only intensifies. But imagine if AI could take on these repetitive tasks—scheduling, charting, data entry—𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. 𝙀𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚. Research has shown that when doctors communicate empathetically, patient adherence to treatments improves by up to 60%, and patient satisfaction scores increase significantly. Yet, under time pressures, even the most compassionate doctors struggle to create these meaningful interactions. This is where AI can become a game-changer. Imagine a healthcare system where AI works quietly in the background, managing data, flagging crucial insights, and even providing real-time feedback on communication techniques. This empowers doctors to be present, listen actively, and respond with genuine empathy—qualities that build trust, reduce patient anxiety, and improve outcomes. 💻 Here’s how AI can drive empathy in healthcare: Reducing administrative load: By automating repetitive tasks, AI frees doctors to spend more time face-to-face with their patients. Enhancing communication skills: AI can analyze conversation patterns, offering tips to improve doctor-patient communication. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞: AI insights enable doctors to address patients' unique needs more precisely, creating a deeper, more individualized connection. 𝐔𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐈 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭; 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭. Let’s leverage AI to give doctors the time to listen, understand, and truly care for their patients. 🎥 Watch my full #TEDx talk to learn more about how AI is transforming healthcare and enabling doctors to focus on compassionate, patient-centered care (Link in the comments) 🙏 If this mission resonates with you, please watch, share, and join the movement to bring AI-driven empathy to healthcare! #AIinHealthcare #PatientCare #EmpathyMatters #HealthTech #FutureOfMedicine #AIForGood

Generative AI (Gen AI) is a powerful ally in supporting patients and providers. At CenterWell, we’re not just adopting technology for technology’s sake; we’re thinking about how to leverage AI to address real-world challenges in health care, such as physician burnout. Our ambient dictation tool is one use case that has improved satisfaction and engagement at appointments from patients and providers, which is why we’ve continued to scale the program across our primary care centers. Jason Couch, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, one of our providers testing ambient dictation, had this to say about the tool: “A positive outcome is the patient summary. I’ve had patients request I use this technology in follow-up visits, because of the patient summary I’m able to provide to them. The entire note is broken down, so they understand what we did during the appointment, what was the problem, and what are the changes I want them to make. It’s also had a positive impact on my documenting. I’m able to give patients the face-to-face visit they truly need. Patients feel relieved and comforted, and I’ve had no out-of-office documenting time.” Ambient dictation is: · Improving the patient experience (feeling like they’re having a conversation with their provider) · Enhancing the provider experience and effectiveness during appointments · Elevating quality of care (shifting the focus to be more on the patient) Patients like the summary the ambient dictation tool provides, and this could lead to improved health literacy and health outcomes for our seniors. Our team will continue to apply AI in new ways to improve experiences and outcomes. What ways are you leveraging AI to shape the future of senior care?   #AIinHealthcare #SeniorCare #ValueBasedCare

Imagine reducing the volume of patient portal messages while increasing their impact. Patients and providers would rejoice. I recently read a Vanderbilt University study co-authored by my friend Yaa Kumah-Crystal, MD MPH FAMIA about a GenAI use case designed to do exactly that. I couldn’t wait to share it with you in my latest Code to Care video. Let’s dig in. While patient messages are a powerful avenue of engagement, the volume of communication has become overwhelming. To manage the influx, developers have typically created AI solutions that support providers. These tools help prioritize messages, sort them into folders, and draft responses. A new use case tackles the problem from the patient's side. The approach leverages LLMs to suggest common follow-up questions for patients to address while drafting their initial message. For example, if a patient writes about a dull pain on the right side of their abdomen, an LLM might ask about its severity, when it started, other symptoms, and recent injuries. This simple step pays dividends. It helps patients enhance messages with the information providers need to take action. It also streamlines back-and-forth communication, a relief given that 30% of threads contain three or more messages. Providers surveyed in the Vanderbilt University study rated the LLMs’ follow-up questions highly, saying it would be helpful if patients answered them in their messages. It always amazes me how a little nudge from technology can amplify a personal touch in care. That’s something we can all celebrate. I’m curious: What other AI solutions for improving patient-provider interactions are you excited about?