Clinical authors are the trusted foundation for generative AI adoption

The benefits of GenAI at the point of care

The benefits and new opportunities for GenAI to support physicians at the point of care have been widely reported on, from Google partnering with the Mayo Clinic to interpret health data more quickly to improving clinical notes and documentation. The survey found physicians are generally optimistic about the technology, with 68% reporting they are more likely to see GenAI as beneficial compared to how they felt a year prior. As patients also use GenAI to search for answers to their own health questions, it can be an opportunity to reinforce the value of shared evidence.

Physicians can see how they can save time by using GenAI to quickly search medical literature (68%) and surface data to assist in clinical decision-making (54%). There are also wider benefits for care teams. 81% of physicians surveyed said they felt GenAI can help improve care team interactions with patients and almost half (46%) said it can help coordinate scheduling across teams to facilitate timely care.

Physicians see strong potential for GenAI to save time, improve interactions at the point of care and support decision-making.

Sources matter: Clinician experts as the foundation of GenAI content

But where physicians are more selective about GenAI tools comes down to a key component: the source material and evidence the technology relies on.

Many reports have been released about “hallucinations” in GenAI – where the AI generates content that can seem realistic, but is actually fabricated information based on trained language patterns. The consequences to healthcare could be dire, and addressing this issue head-on is key: what is the source material the technology is surfacing and can it be trusted?

Before using GenAI in clinical decisions, 91% of physicians surveyed would have to know the source materials were created by doctors and medical experts. For the majority of physicians (58%), knowing the content was created by medical professionals was the number one factor in selecting a GenAI tool.

Source transparency also matters. 89% of physicians said they would be more likely to use GenAI in clinical decision- making if the technology vendor was transparent about where the information came from, who created it, and how it was sourced.

Despite their enthusiasm, physicians are wary of which GenAI tools they would be comfortable using. What would make doctors more comfortable?

For patient care, the right GenAI technology partner is key

To be successful, healthcare leadership would benefit from taking physician input into consideration when assessing GenAI solutions for their care teams. The foundation of any new technology and its successful implementation is being able to trust the information sources and the vendor.

Having a solution like UpToDate Expert AI that layers responsible GenAI on top of trusted, clinician-authored content is critical to adoption success and informing safe patient care. It can surface expert-reviewed clinical insights and care recommendations for a trusted, efficient resource across care teams.

Download our whitepaper, “Building the bridge: Generative AI and the future of clinical knowledge,” and learn about UpToDate Expert AI, the generative tool for faster responses from the trusted decision support solution.