The following is a guest article by Frank McGillin, CEO at The Clinic by Cleveland Clinic
In the rush to rapidly embrace AI, healthcare providers risk depersonalizing the patient experience.
While AI is rife with excitement and unlimited potential, it’s also veiled in uncertainty for many patients A recent survey from The Clinic by Cleveland Clinic found that 38% of respondents would be less likely to consider a second opinion if their physician used AI to diagnose the condition. More data shows that nearly 80% of patients don’t even know whether their doctor is using it, and 43% say they don’t really understand AI. Perhaps that’s why three out of four patients do not trust AI in healthcare settings.
Although AI is quickly becoming more commonplace in healthcare, organizations must be careful that their AI pilots build consumer trust instead of eroding it. This can be accomplished by seeking opportunities to supplement or fill in care gaps, rather than replacing the human element. This approach can help quell patient concerns and demonstrate AI’s potential as a tool that can empower rather than replace patient-centered care.
Here are three ways healthcare organizations can support the patient experience in a world of AI-enabled care.
Digital Transformation is Not Enough
Healthcare’s challenges are not simply technology problems—meaning that AI is not the solution but merely a tool to help improve the delivery of care. The issue is that the public’s comfort with AI has not kept pace with adoption, leaving most patients feeling distrustful of AI in healthcare settings.
Simply implementing new technology won’t necessarily strengthen or even maintain the patient experience. In fact, plunging forward into AI without first understanding these patient concerns is a recipe for failure. The most successful examples of AI in healthcare so far are those that facilitate better interaction and act as a force multiplier for the clinician, rather than trying to replace them. High empathy and personal attention will be the keys that differentiate the best healthcare providers in the future. It’s not just about digital transformation—it’s about transforming the patient experience using efficient digital tools.
For example, we see a huge opportunity to apply AI in the spaces between patient encounters. By connecting patients with automated chat support to answer common questions or provide general information before their next appointment, AI can help strengthen the quality of high-touch personal care and reduce costs while facilitating ongoing, higher-value interaction between provider and patient.
Understand the Limitations
Technology and healthcare have become closely intertwined, but let’s face it: reports of AI suggesting people “eat at least one small rock per day” don’t inspire confidence.
To move beyond the basic AI implementations in healthcare, such as automating back-office data entry and basic case management, AI solutions will need to think like caregivers, integrating both the clinical and human elements.
Patients are particularly wary of using AI in clinical tasks, like diagnosis. They don’t want a bot doing the work of a highly trained physician—and frankly, neither do physicians. 43% of patients said they think the use of AI would cause their provider to spend less time with them. This presents a huge opportunity for providers to educate patients about AI’s potential to help improve care, especially for complex or life-altering diseases, not by replacing the physician’s expertise but by empowering it. For instance, using AI for clinical documentation can free up providers to spend more time on encounters that require their irreplaceable expertise and attention, not less.
Quality is Still King
Pressures like resource and workforce shortages are driving some organizations to over-index on technology tools to fill current gaps. While AI might help alleviate these pressures in the short term, implementing technology with the wrong intentions could negatively impact patient perceptions and relationships in the long run.
The best uses of AI in healthcare will empower organizations to overcome these resource challenges while protecting and even elevating the quality of care. For example, using AI for early detection of sepsis in the inpatient setting can capture subtle symptoms and support more timely interventions by clinicians that can save lives. The underlying message, as it has always been and always should be in healthcare, is to prioritize quality care. After all, patients aren’t seeking out the most high-tech hospital when selecting providers; the majority of them just want the best outcomes—especially when facing life-altering care decisions.
The Real Question
AI implementation in healthcare is not just about rolling out technology. It’s an opportunity to deepen connections with patients, enhance both the care and the surrounding experience, and deliver a higher level of service—all while reducing the administrative pressures for clinicians and staff, ultimately freeing providers to dedicate more attention where it matters.
The question is not how to add AI into healthcare, but rather, now that we have these tools at our disposal, how to best leverage them to design an optimal pathway to deliver better care and a better patient experience. By leveraging AI strategically to improve the delivery of high-touch, highly meaningful care, providers can gain a competitive advantage in a high-tech world.
About Frank McGillin
Frank McGillin is CEO at The Clinic by Cleveland Clinic, a joint venture between Cleveland Clinic and Amwell that aims to expand access to the world’s best healthcare expertise through digital technology. As a leading provider of virtual second opinions, The Clinic enables patients to access Cleveland Clinic’s medical expertise, including 3,500 physicians in 550 advanced subspecialties. The Clinic offers secure video consultations, digital record collection, and concierge-level service to patients and health plans.
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