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AI in healthcare: Patient experience and expectations
Sept. 11, 2024
Despite growing usage of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, most consumers say they don’t notice a difference yet in the patient experience, although there’s trending optimism among Americans that AI will improve the patient journey in the next twelve months, according to a U.S. Consumer Healthcare Survey conducted by Talkdesk, Inc., a global provider of AI-powered customer experience (CX) technology.
Talkdesk published the following findings in this press release issued on August 29.
Sixty-two percent (62 percent) of U.S. patients surveyed felt the support provided by healthcare providers throughout the patient journey has either worsened or remained stagnant in the past year.
Many patients expressed frustration with the complexities of navigating the healthcare system, with 23 percent citing difficulties due to dealing with multiple departments to accomplish something like scheduling an appointment and insurance issues.
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As patients look to the future, there is a growing anticipation for AI to improve their healthcare experiences. Half (51 percent) of the respondents believe AI will enhance their patient experience within the next year. This sentiment is particularly strong among men, with nearly three-in-five (59 percent) expressing optimism about AI’s potential benefits, compared to just more than two-in-five (44 percent) of women. Millennials also exhibit the highest hopes for AI, with 60 percent believing in its ability to improve patient experiences.
The survey further reveals:
- AI will streamline interactions with providers. Exactly half of U.S. patients anticipate AI will create a more efficient patient experience because clinical and non-clinical healthcare professionals can spend less time on administrative tasks such as writing patient communications, scheduling new appointments, and note-taking. More than three-quarters (82 percent) of respondents believe AI will automate reminders for appointments and medication schedules, while 75 percent believe it can facilitate better coordination of care among different providers. Additionally, 81 percent anticipate AI will expedite responses to non-clinical inquiries, such as appointment changes.
- The human element remains key in some, but not all, parts of the patient journey. Eighty-one percent of respondents prefer to consult a human for medical advice and 74 percent want to discuss their personal health information with a person rather than an automated agent. This highlights a clear preference for human support in most care delivery areas. However, patients indicated they are OK with AI handling administrative tasks such as updating basic information like an address change (60 percent), managing requests for prescription refills (56 percent) and scheduling routine appointments (42 percent).
- AI could break down barriers to care. Thirty percent of people have avoided seeking medical care due to embarrassment or discomfort in discussing their health conditions with a human representative. Sixty-seven percent of individuals indicated they would feel more comfortable making appointments for sensitive health issues with an online chatbot than a human staff member, suggesting AI could play a vital role in breaking down barriers to care for stigmatized health issues. In fact, the leading positive aspect of healthcare AI chatbots cited by Americans was that they don’t judge (48 percent), followed by they don’t rush patients (38 percent), and they don’t make them feel stupid if they don’t understand something (36 percent).
- Despite its potential, concerns around AI remain. The top worries patients have about the use of AI in healthcare include inaccuracies in its responses (26 percent), data privacy issues (24 percent) and the fear of losing the human touch in care-giving (24 percent). Patients also believe more oversight is needed over the use of AI in clinical settings, with just 23 percent of respondents saying there were currently adequate regulations.
The Talkdesk U.S. Consumer Healthcare Survey was conducted in August 2024 on the online platform Pollfish and collected the views of 1,000 men and women aged 18 and over.
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This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
