Advancing Family Medicine Through AI/ML

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With the digitization of everything from videos to voices and documents, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) have revolutionized industries, including medicine, but have yet to transform primary care. A review of primary care AI/ML concluded that the field remains in “early stages of maturity,” despite a history spanning nearly 35 years.1 Only 1 out of every 7 of these papers includes a primary care author; therefore, one barrier to greater impact is engagement from the primary care community.

The AI revolution presents an opportunity to leverage the technology to plow an innovative pathway that will not only reverse the primary care crisis but also accelerate its modernization. More than 90% of PCPs use and maintain electronic health records (EHRs), but significant share of the EHR data lie fallow for practice innovation. These enormous, untapped data pools about the care and care-seeking behaviors of broadly diverse populations, from infants to gravely ill elderly, have great potential to be leveraged by thoughtful AI applications.

With the digitization of everything from videos to voices and documents, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) have revolutionized industries, including medicine, but have yet to transform primary care. A review of primary care AI/ML concluded that the field remains in “early stages of maturity,” despite a history spanning nearly 35 years.1 Only 1 out of every 7 of these papers includes a primary care author; therefore, one barrier to greater impact is engagement from the primary care community.

The AI revolution presents an opportunity to leverage the technology to plow an innovative pathway that will not only reverse the primary care crisis but also accelerate its modernization. More than 90% of PCPs use and maintain electronic health records (EHRs), but significant share of the EHR data lie fallow for practice innovation. These enormous, untapped data pools about the care and care-seeking behaviors of broadly diverse populations, from infants to gravely ill elderly, have great potential to be leveraged by thoughtful AI applications.