In today’s demanding clinical landscape, integrating generative AI tools is essential for enhancing efficiency and improving patient care in primary care settings
GPs are balancing an ever-increasing patient load with the need for more personalised care. With those in England now seeing an average of 37 patients each day amidst growing workforce shortages, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to access and process the vast amounts of information available to provide optimal care. Moreover, finding the appropriate time for face-to-face communication with patients and carers, professional development, and maintaining a work-life balance is challenging in this demanding environment.
When clinicians lack time to provide truly tailored care, patient trust and treatment plan compliance can suffer. In turn, this can lead to inadequately addressed patient concerns, lower satisfaction, and adherence to medical advice, which can affect health outcomes. Intense daily schedules and emotional exhaustion can also contribute to decreased empathy and detachment from work, impacting the overall well-being and quality of patient care provided.
To address these challenges, primary care professionals need empowerment through evidence-based information and best practice guidance that can be accessed within their workflows with minimal friction. The implementation of clinical decision support tools can significantly improve workflows and, in turn, can enhance patient care, build trust, and improve compliance.
The daily impact of workflow friction
Workflow friction encompasses the inefficiencies and obstacles that disrupt the seamless execution of tasks and processes. These disruptions can lead to unsafe practices, extended waiting times, clinician burnout, and a decline in the quality and coordination of patient care. From my perspective, the most significant friction arises from demanding schedules and insufficient time allocated for personalised patient care. With the demands and resource constraints faced by GPs in the UK, effective time management and efficiency become crucial elements during consultations.
One of the most important aspects of clinical workload is understanding each patient’s unique needs and subsequently researching the most effective care pathways. However, time and resource limitations often leave clinicians with insufficient time to thoroughly understand a patient’s specific needs. This lack of time not only hampers a clinician’s ability to find the correct information but also contributes to cognitive overload, making it difficult to deliver the level of compassionate care we strive for.
Another source of friction is sometimes the lack of confidence in making the right decisions for patients with symptoms that could indicate an array of conditions. Clinicians frequently navigate complex differential diagnoses where accurate decision-making is crucial. However, the lack of evidence-based information contextualised for specific patients can result in some rare diagnoses initially being overlooked, leading to treatment delays and possible harm to patients.
The rapid expansion of research makes it difficult for clinicians to stay knowledgeable on disease advances and their associated symptoms. As a result, clinicians devote considerable time to reviewing new studies to make well-informed patient care decisions. This extensive review process, while necessary, only adds to the cognitive overload and time constraints clinicians continue to navigate.
AI innovation as a solution
The integration of advanced healthcare technology, particularly generative AI, presents a promising solution to many primary care challenges. These innovations have the potential to significantly reduce workflow friction by supporting:
- Diagnosis:
- Assisting in identifying potential diagnoses and ruling out others.
- Treatment plan optimisation:
- Suggesting personalised treatment plans based on patient data and current research.
- Research assistance:
- Providing access to relevant medical literature.
- Patient education:
- Generating tailored educational materials and significantly improving communication between GPs and patients.
Embracing AI tools in daily practice
I’ve taken the time to explore how generative AI tools can assist my daily practice. By incorporating evidence-based AI technologies into my workflow, I’ve been able to optimise efficiencies, improve my decision-making processes, and reduce friction.
The adoption of clinical decision support systems with generative AI search capabilities enables GPs to easily access trusted, evidence-based clinical content at the point of care. Tools like ClinicalKey AI draw from scientific journals, medication information, clinical reference content and medical textbooks, reducing the time and effort required to stay updated on the latest medical knowledge. They can also assist in identifying potential diagnoses, mitigating the likelihood of misdiagnosis, and suggest personalised treatment plans based on patient data and the latest medical research.
Using evidence-based clinical content combined with generative AI search provides me quick access to valuable references and prompts for deeper exploration. This allows me to efficiently investigate the relevant literature for each query, saving time while enhancing my understanding and enabling me to provide more comprehensive care to my patients.
The promise of a frictionless future
The current healthcare landscape is plagued by workflow friction, leading to cognitive burnout, misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, and suboptimal patient care. However, generative AI offers a solution by providing clinicians with quick access to relevant medical information, reducing research time and facilitating effective patient communication.
Responsible adoption of evidence-based technologies like ClinicalKey AI holds immense promise for the future of primary care. By integrating AI-driven insights into workflows, these tools will enable informed decision-making at the point of care.
With reliable and effective tools that improve workflows, GPs can focus on what matters most – supporting their patients.
This piece was written and provided by Rahul Goyal, General Practitioner and Chief Medical Officer of Elsevier EMEALAAP
