By Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Katie Palmer
Published on 2024-01-11 10:01:34
The earliest applications of Generative AI in medicine have primarily focused on streamlining the digital documentation process for physicians, aiming to improve productivity. However, recent research suggests that large language models such as ChatGPT could have the potential to benefit both patients and healthcare providers by automatically extracting a patient’s social needs from extensive clinical records.
Factors such as housing, transportation, financial stability, and community support play a crucial role in the overall health of patients once they leave the doctor’s office. However, actively screening patients for gaps in these social determinants of health requires dedicated effort. Furthermore, this critical information is often dispersed throughout the lengthy and convoluted clinical notes that providers compile during each patient visit.
Danielle Bitterman, a radiation oncologist and AI researcher at Mass General Brigham, emphasized the challenging nature of trying to discern a patient’s needs within the extensive clinical information available. With patients often having thousands of notes, it becomes akin to searching for a needle in a haystack.
The potential of AI models like ChatGPT lies in their ability to comb through vast troves of clinical data and identify social needs that may otherwise go unnoticed. By unearthing this information from clinical records, these AI models could help healthcare providers to better understand and address the social determinants of health that significantly impact their patients’ well-being.
In conclusion, the use of Generative AI in extracting social needs from clinical records represents an exciting opportunity to enhance patient care and improve health outcomes. By harnessing the capabilities of these advanced language models, healthcare providers can gain invaluable insights into the social determinants of health that will enable them to deliver more tailored and holistic care for their patients.
Read the original article on Africa Health News
