Can AI Bring Humanity Back to Health Care?

Machines Like Us

Think about the last time you felt let down by the health care system. You probably don’t have to go back far. In wealthy countries around the world, medical systems that were once robust are now crumbling. Doctors and nurses, tasked with an ever expanding range of responsibilities, are busier than ever, which means they have less and less time for patients. In the United States, the average doctor’s appointment lasts seven minutes. In South Korea, it’s only two.

Without sufficient time and attention, patients are suffering. There are 12 million significant misdiagnoses in the US every year, and 800,000 of those result in death or disability. (While the same kind of data isn’t available in Canada, similar trends are almost certainly happening here as well).

Eric Topol says medicine has become decidedly inhuman – and the consequences have been disastrous. Topol is a cardiologist and one of the most widely cited medical researchers in the world. In his latest book, Deep Medicine, he argues that the best way to make health care human again is to embrace the inhuman, in the form of artificial intelligence.

Mentioned:

“Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again” by Eric Topol

“The frequency of diagnostic errors in outpatient care: estimations from three large observational studies involving US adult populations” by H. Singh, A. Meyer, E. Thomas

“Burden of serious harms from diagnostic error in the USA” by David Newman-Toker, et al.

“How Expert Clinicians Intuitively Recognize a Medical Diagnosis” by J. Brush Jr, J. Sherbino, G. Norman

“A Randomized Controlled Study of Art Observation Training to Improve Medical Student Ophthalmology Skills” by Jaclyn Gurwin, et al.

“Abridge becomes Epic’s First Pal, bringing generative AI to more providers and patients, including those at Emory Healthcare”

“Why Doctors Should Organize” by Eric Topol

“How This Rural Health System Is Outdoing Silicon Valley” by Erika Fry

Further Reading:

"The Importance Of Being" by Abraham Verghese