How AI Is Transforming the Patient-Provider Relationship

As Paul Starr famously wrote about in The Social Transformation of American Medicine, the healer’s relationship with the patient was historically perceived not unlike a religious leader’s relationship with a parishioner: an opportunity to get closer to a higher spiritual plane. It’s widely established that clinicians who develop strong relationships with their patients and give a sense that they truly know their patients are more likely to have patients who trust and adhere to treatment and experience better quality of life over time.  There is a clear need to correct course and bring elements of those early healer-patient relationships back to the exam room. Generative AI capabilities can revolutionize how data informs the physician-patient interaction. When we bring AI to the point of care, our doctors need to work together with the AI,  The primary care, led by a combination of AI and sensitive, caring physicians – working hand-in-code – will create a new era of patient well-being that creates deeper relationships, informed patients, superior outcomes, and unprecedented equity.