key: cord-1009772-bljv39ja
authors: Cooley, Laura
title: Harness Technology—Enhance Health Care Experiences
date: 2020-11-25
journal: J Patient Exp
DOI: 10.1177/2374373520968428
sha: 97bcaec34767d450a830736eedb12a752316ddd6
doc_id: 1009772
cord_uid: bljv39ja

nan

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the need for virtual modes of engagement, pushing healthcare leaders to rapidly adapt and embrace more digital tools. Artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies present threats and opportunities as the healthcare community strives to enhance healthcare experiences. Although some fear that AI tools will diminish the human aspect of healthcare, leaving robots and machines to provide care (1), optimists contend that technology advancements can make healthcare more human again (2) . I am reassured by the following beliefs: 1) the subjective and complex nature of healthcare will continue to require real-time human communication encounters, including physical examinations, interpretation, and shared decisionmaking between patients and clinicians, 2) most clinicians place a high value on relationships with patients, and prefer to invest time in direct patient care, rather than in administrative tasks (3) .

Technology advancements, such as telehealth videoconferencing, automatic scheduling, electronic messaging, voice recognition, and various AI applications, inspire hope among leaders eager to enhance healthcare experiences.

The electronic health record (EHR), a technology consistently blamed for interfering with the patient-clinician relationship, is often accused of stealing precious moments from tightly timed clinical encounters. An American Medical Association study found that for every hour of face-to-face time with patients, physicians spend nearly 2 additional hours on EHR and clerical tasks (4) . Admittedly, the EHR may distract clinicians and amplify communication barriers (e.g., missed nonverbal cues due to attention to the screen) (5) . Despite the current frustrations, trends in the EHR industry provide reason for hope as requirements emerge to ensure better integration and streamlined usability (e.g., AI and voice recognition transcription) (6) .

A recent study found that clinicians are already using AI to improve data analysis, to enable better treatment and diagnosis, and to reduce administrative burdens-which may release time for clinicians to perform patient-facing tasks. Furthermore, the study found that clinicians involved with extensive AI programs spend two-thirds less time writing reports and 45% indicate that AI has helped increase patient consultation time, as well as expanded time to perform surgery and other procedures (7) . A total of 79% of healthcare professionals utilizing AI tools reported alleviation of burnout symptoms, supporting the hypothesis that technology can enable clinicians to provide higher quality care when properly incorporated (8) .

Although the latest issue of The Journal of Patient Experience (JPE) features an array of important nontechnical topics, the intersections between technology and healthcare experiences shall increasingly rise in prominence as we advance the field. As a self-proclaimed technology optimist, I remain hopeful that digital tools are enabling our ability to harness technology and enhance healthcare experiences.

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