UC San Diego Health is leading the way in utilizing generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to draft replies to patient messages within the Epic Systems electronic health record system. A study conducted by the University of California San Diego School of Medicine found that while AI-generated responses did not reduce physician response time, they did help alleviate cognitive burden by providing an empathetic draft that physicians could edit. This study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s Network Open, is the first of its kind to evaluate AI-drafted physician messaging.
The use of AI in patient-physician communication has the potential to improve communication quality, efficiency, and engagement, ultimately enhancing patient care. By reducing physician workload through AI assistance, the hope is to combat burnout and allow doctors to focus on more complex aspects of patient care. The study’s lead author, Ming Tai-Seale, emphasizes that generative AI can serve as a collaborative tool, providing physicians with a starting point for crafting thoughtful and empathetic responses to patient inquiries.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in digital communications between patients and healthcare providers, increasing the demand for prompt responses. At UC San Diego Health, generative AI is being used to draft responses to non-emergency patient questions, offering virtual physician assistance to address the growing volume of messages. While AI messaging did not save physicians time in the study, it did provide a helpful starting point for crafting comprehensive and compassionate responses.
Physicians appreciated the ability of AI to draft longer, empathetic responses, even when they were pressed for time. The study’s co-author, Marlene Millen, notes that AI can assist in synthesizing patient requests and relevant data into a detailed message, potentially preventing burnout by providing a foundation for thoughtful communication. The findings suggest a shift in healthcare communication towards leveraging AI to enhance empathy and response length.
UC San Diego Health has been conducting extensive tests of GenAI models since 2023 in collaboration with the Jacobs Center for Health Innovation. These projects aim to explore the safe and effective integration of GenAI into healthcare, paving the way for innovative uses of AI technology in patient care. Further analysis will be needed to determine the impact of increased empathy in AI-generated responses on patient satisfaction. The study’s co-authors include a team of healthcare professionals from UC San Diego and Stanford University, highlighting the collaborative effort involved in advancing the use of AI in healthcare communication.
