Right Care, Right Place, First Time: How AI Is Improving National Virtual Front Doors

AbstractLarge-scale virtual front doors (VFDs) serve as the initial point of consumer contact with a health system. Intended to improve consumer experience, health equity, evidence-based care, and utilization of available system capacity, VFDs are offered through digital and telephone channels, aiming to provide first-time resolution at the appropriate level of care.Previously, VFDs faced challenges in personalizing triage for particular consumer cohorts and had a tendency to contribute to overtriage. The use of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled VFDs across Australia has been shown to overcome these limitations. However, ensuring transparency, accountability, and safety in AI-enabled VFDs requires clear communication about how AI is used, who operates the system, and the values driving its design, alongside robust postimplementation monitoring for bias, shared oversight between government and industry, and thoughtful change management to support clinical adoption.AI could become ubiquitous in triaging at scale to achieve the vision of right care, right place, first time. AI-enabled VFDs can solve major health care challenges by improving consumers' engagement in managing their own care, improving equity of access, reducing unwarranted variability in care pathways, and matching demand with available capacity - all while reducing cost.