Patients believe docs who use AI are less competent, according to new survey data
Although most medical providers believe artificial intelligence has the potential to benefit their practices, patients may perceive docs who utilize AI in a less favorable light, according to new data.
The integration of AI into medicine is inevitable at this point; in the medical field, for radiology, it is not a matter of if AI will make its way into workflows, but when. For many practices, this has already happened.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s latest tally of approved AI tools recently climbed to over 1,000, with the majority catered to imaging. There have been an additional 115 radiology AI algorithms approved since Jan. 1, bringing the total number of these specific algorithms to 873 and making imaging the most prominent target of AI developers.
Many see AI as a valuable tool capable of streamlining administrative processes, improving communications and increasing the detection of findings most humans might overlook. But according to new survey data, patients may view providers who utilize AI as “incompetent.”
“Artificial intelligence is rapidly gaining importance in medicine. Recent findings, however, indicate potential concerns from the patients’ and the public’s perspective,” Moritz Reis, MSc, with the Institute of Psychology at the University of Wuerzburg, in Germany, and colleagues noted. “So far, such research focused on attitudes toward medical AI tools and AI-generated medical advice. In contrast, little is known about the public perception of physicians themselves who use AI.”
The team distributed the survey online in January to an online sample of U.S. adults based on the 2021 census. The survey contained fictitious examples of advertisements for medical providers that might be seen on social media, in pamphlets or on billboards. Participants were divided into four groups and were given similar materials, except for one important detail—some of the materials included information on the practice utilizing AI for administrative, diagnostic or therapeutic purposes, while the others did not. Respondents were asked to rate the physician on a 5-point scale based on competence, trustworthiness and empathy and to share whether they would be willing to make an appointment with them.
The 1,276 respondents had similar sentiments regarding physician use of AI; based on the ratings, respondents deemed users as significantly less competent, regardless of what the physician was using AI for, though therapeutic use yielded the lowest ratings, at 3.58. Respondents also scored physicians’ trustworthiness and empathy lower if they utilized AI in practice. What’s more, responses indicated that participants were significantly less likely to schedule appointments with physicians if they were made aware they used AI in any context.
The authors suggested some of the participant skepticism could be owed to concerns about overreliance on AI or reduced patient-physician interactions. They also cited anxiety over data protection and the potential for AI to increase healthcare costs.
“From the physician’s perspective it thus may be important to transparently communicate the rationale for using AI and to emphasize its potential benefits for the patient,” the group advised.
Read more about the survey results in JAMA Network Open.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.