Primary Care: The Actual Intelligence Required for Artificial Intelligence to Advance Health Care and Improve Health

With conversational agents triaging symptoms, cameras aiding diagnoses, and remote sensors monitoring vital signs, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) outside of hospitals has the potential to improve health, according to a recently released report from the National Academy of Medicine. Despite this promise, the success of AI is not guaranteed, and stakeholders need to be involved with its development to ensure that the resulting tools can be easily used by clinicians, protect patient privacy, and enhance the value of the care delivered. A crucial stakeholder group missing from the conversation is primary care. As the nation's largest delivery platform, primary care will have a powerful impact on whether AI is adopted and subsequently exacerbates health disparities. To leverage these benefits, primary care needs to serve as a medical home for AI, broaden its teams and training, and build on government initiatives and funding.

Automated summary

A recently released report from the National Academy of Medicine suggests that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) outside of hospitals, such as conversational agents, cameras, and remote sensors, has the potential to improve health. However, the success of AI is not guaranteed, and stakeholders need to be involved in its development to ensure easy usability by clinicians, protection of patient privacy, and enhanced value of care. Primary care, as the largest healthcare delivery platform, plays a crucial role in the adoption and potential exacerbation of health disparities. To fully leverage the benefits of AI, primary care needs to become a medical home for AI, expanding its teams and training, and capitalizing on government initiatives and funding.