Artificial Intelligence and Primary Care: Perceptions and Applications in Medical Clinic Operations
Date
2024
Authors
Wang, Xinyi
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Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Victoria
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to improve health care, both for clinical and non-clinical purposes. Primary care is the entry point for patients into the health care system. Recent years has seen an increase in the demand for primary care, as well as issues such as staffing shortages, and increasing costs. AI can help to alleviate these issues by streamlining administrative and operational processes.
This study investigates the perspectives and applications of AI in medical clinic operations. A mixed-methods approach was utilized, involving a scoping review, survey, and interviews. The scoping review intends to identify relevant literature and the state of knowledge. A survey to local clinic managers and physicians was also conducted to determine their perspectives of AI. The survey received 15 responses from 22 individual invited medical clinics in the Victoria region, resulting in a final response rate of 68.2%. Survey respondents were also invited to participate in interviews to gather more contextual information about their survey responses.
This study finds that there is significant interest in the potential application of AI, including for health care operations. However, AI technologies are still largely not being used yet. This is supported by the findings of the scoping review and survey. Interviewed clinics also highlight their current usages of ChatGPT for non-clinical workflows.
Description
Keywords
artificial intelligence, primary care, ChatGPT, medical clinics, clinic operations, administrative tasks