Results from a new NBC 5 Responds survey found people across the Chicago area are struggling to find doctor appointment availability.
Of the people who took our non-scientific survey:
- 67% struggled to schedule an appointment with their primary doctor in the past year.
- 76% struggled to schedule an appointment with a specialty doctor in the past year.
- 17% of respondents said they would like to use a concierge medical service to access faster care, but it’s too cost prohibitive.
NBC Chicago’s viewers indicate there’s a problem with a lack of doctor appointment availability. Now, AI assistance is emerging as one of the solutions to free up in-person time with real live medical professionals.
According to the job search engine Indeed, 60% of healthcare providers are using AI to help with things such as administrative tasks so there is more time for patient care.
The urgent care group Midwest Express has more than 50 clinics in Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana. It’s using AI technology to scribe notes during patient appointments. The technology used at Midwest Express was created by the company Experity.
So what can you expect if you visit a clinic that’s using AI during patient appointments?
Experity’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Andrea Giamalva, told NBC Responds “the AI Scribed technology listens in on the conversation, not only generates the note, but generates discrete data fields like… codes, as well as orders and suggested instructions.”
According to Dr. Giamalva, “What patients will notice is less interference with technology as that conversation is being recorded. And on behalf of the provider, the AI technology kind of sums up and creates the document for them to review, of course, and ensure it is accurate to what their final determination was.”
Dr. Giamalva explains, Experity’s AI technology could free up in-person appointments for patients with the most immediate need.
“More often than not, there are patients that are getting appointments that maybe didn’t really need that in-person visit and really could have been better served by a telehealth visit. And that person that really does need to be physically seen in the office should be triaged as such and essentially prioritized as such and brought into the office,” she explained.
At the end of the day, Dr. Giamalva says it’s the provider making the health care decision, not the AI.
