Patients are more comfortable with AI making diagnoses than answering the phone at their doctor’s office, but overwhelmingly concerns persist

New York - August 1, 2024 -New research from Bain & Company finds US patients are more comfortable with generative artificial intelligence (AI) analyzing their radiology scans and making diagnoses than answering the phone at their doctor's office. This underscores a broader trend among healthcare consumers being more comfortable with the idea of generative AI supporting their doctor than interacting with the technology themselves. These are among the findings from Bain & Company's latest US Frontline of Healthcare survey.

"We've seen patients and providers becoming more comfortable with the role generative AI is starting to play in healthcare, but many providers remain concerned about the technology undermining the essential elements of the patient-clinician relationship," said Dr. Erin Ney, partner in Bain & Company's Healthcare& Life Sciencespractice. "Done well, generative AI has the ability to alleviate clinicians' administrative burdens, allowing them to focus more of their time and energy on vital face-to-face interactions with patients. As more applications come to market, it will be important to balance their use with the need to treat patients with compassion, tune into their concerns and emotions, and deliver high quality, individualized care."

Patients and providers show cautious optimism toward AI

Bain's research shows that when it comes to generative AI, getting the patient experience right early on is critical. Today, nearly half of US consumers say they are comfortable with at least one generative AI application in healthcare.

Physicians and administrators feel a similar mix of excitement and apprehension. When surveyed, 43% of providers recognize generative AI's potential to ease administrative burdens and lighten clinician workloads. But concerns remain-19% of physicians and 17% of administrators say the technology undermines the patient-clinician relationship.

"Most hospital administrators still tell us their organizations aren't ready to successfully incorporate generative AI at scale," said Eric Berger, partner in Bain & Company's Healthcare & Life Sciencespractice. "We're still quite early in the journey. Successful adoption will require a focus on enhancing the patient-clinician relationship while preserving the human component of effective care. Engaging clinicians in the development and implementation of AI solutions will be essential to addressing both patients' and clinicians' concerns while scaling winning applications."

Following the precedent of telehealth

The fear of technology challenging the patient-clinician relationship isn't new. We've seen it before, quite recently, with telehealth. Despite initial fears, the value of the relationship has prevailed. Today, 61% of patients who use telehealth only do so with their own provider. And both patients and physicians have embraced telehealth as a supplement to, rather than replacement for, in-person visits. Around 76% of physicians and 78% of consumers view it as a complement to in-person care.

Patients frustrated with wait times, despite the rise of alternative care sites; generative AI has the potential to help

Customer experience concerns extend beyond utilization of new technologies. Globally, patientshave the same gripewith healthcare-wait times. Across the Asia-Pacific region, UK, and US, hospital wait times and wait times to get an appointment are consumers' greatest pain point, even outranking high costs, according to Bain's research.

Providers are pushing to deliver care when and where patients want to receive it. Escalating consumer demands and shifting preferences have aided the global rise of alternative care sites and channels, such as urgent care centers, retail healthcare, and telehealth. Today, more than 70% of consumers are willing to seek care at alternative sites for a variety of medical conditions.

Despite this, access remains a challenge. Rather than overburdening clinicians, generative AI offers new ways to reduce waste and boost efficiency. Leading healthcare organizations are already prioritizing and scaling generative AI applications in predictive triage and resource management, including patient flow, equipment usage, and appointment scheduling.

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