Artificial Intelligence to Improve Patient-Physician Communication in Surgery.

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Surgical Communication
• Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

Background:

• Effective patient-physician communication is vital in surgery but challenged by complexity and time limits.
• Shared decision-making is often constrained, impacting patient understanding and care.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) presents potential solutions to augment communication and reduce physician burden.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the role of AI in enhancing patient-physician communication within surgical care.
• To identify current and potential AI applications for improving perioperative communication and patient education.
• To assess the benefits and limitations of AI in surgical decision-making and patient comprehension.

Main Methods:

• Review of current AI applications in surgical communication, including chatbots, decision aids, and risk prediction models.
• Analysis of AI's potential to improve patient understanding, reduce decisional conflict, and support risk-benefit discussions.
• Examination of indirect benefits such as reduced documentation burden and improved patient engagement.

Main Results:

• AI tools like chatbots and risk prediction models can personalize patient education and improve comprehension.
• AI demonstrates potential to enhance shared decision-making, particularly for patients with complex needs.
• Ambient AI scribes show promise in reducing physician workload and improving patient engagement.

Conclusions:

• AI offers significant promise for improving surgical communication, patient education, and shared decision-making.
• Addressing AI bias, transparency, and ethical concerns is critical for safe and effective implementation.
• Further research is needed to establish AI effectiveness, address challenges, and define best practices for clinical integration.