Survey Reveals Key Challenges And Opportunities For AI In Primary Care

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE – 29 AUGUST 2024

Results of a recent survey show New Zealand's general practices are cautiously exploring the use of AI tools with hopes of improving efficiency while reducing clinician burnout and clinical administrative burdens, ultimately creating more time to focus on patient care.

“Our group formed to support the adoption of AI in primary care and these survey results validate our roadmap, in particular activities we have in mind for governance, compliance, implementation and training,” says spokesperson for the group Dr Janine Bycroft, Health Navigator Charitable Trust Founder and CEO and specialist GP in Mount Wellington.

Conducted during July and August, the survey was open to all those who work in primary care in New Zealand and attracted over 300 responses.

“We were interested to see just over half of the respondents have used AI in their practices, although we do acknowledge there is likely some bias in that result with AI supporters being more likely to take part in the survey,” comments Dr Bycroft.

The type of AI applications commonly in use include notetaking tools such as Nabla and free AI tools for non-clinical administrative tasks. However, it is the overwhelming clinical administrative burden in primary care that clearly stands out as the area where people see AI making the most significant impact.

“We asked people to tell us what problem or challenge they wanted AI to solve in an ideal world. Once the responses were themed over half of the people were looking at AI-driven solutions to support inbox management, notetaking, and the automation of routine tasks – mainly driven by a desire to free up time to focus more on patient care.

“A common theme we hear in patient feedback is how much more they are enjoying and valuing interaction with their GP, they really feel the difference of the eye contact being with them instead of the screen and the keyboard.”

Similarly, clinicians have been delighted by the difference it makes to their day, their engagement with patients and the reduced cognitive load.

Collaborative Aotearoa CEO and chair of the AI group, Jess Morgan-French, believes there is a direct link between AI, the practice’s preferred model of care, and improved patient experience. “AI has the potential to play an essential part in future models of care, in terms of not only the administration burden, but also increasing general practice productivity and even improved ability to provide more ‘compassionate’ patient consultations.”

Despite the potential benefits, concerns around data privacy, security, and the accuracy of AI-generated outputs remain the top-of-mind challenges to overcome. There is a clear need for improved AI literacy among healthcare providers, as well as stronger regulatory guidance and trust-building efforts to facilitate AI adoption.

“The survey findings point to a missing key ingredient to ‘unblock’ implementation. People are really looking for some sort of endorsement or framework from our national authorities – that could be a gamechanger in terms of trust and acceptance for people,” says Dr Bycroft.

In lieu of official guidance, primary care organisations have been working to support the sector in various ways including demonstrations, webinars, PHO conducted privacy impact assessments and guides.

Most recently WellSouth Primary Health Network developed a comprehensive guide for general practices which they have made available nationwide through the AI working group. The guide provides simple explanations, a summary of the regulatory framework for AI in New Zealand and a discussion on the potential medicolegal considerations. Opportunities, benefits along with the risks and mitigations when using AI are summarised before providing some step-by-step guidance on how to begin to introduce generative AI in general practice. The guide can be accessed on the GPNZ website, which hosts all resources on behalf of the AI in primary care group.

About the AI in primary care group

A collaborative group of people from across multiple primary care organisations, supported by IT experts CIO Studio, are working together to support the evolution of AI in primary care. For more on the group, including the roadmap for their work, visit the AI in primary care webpage on the GPNZ website: https://gpnz.org.nz/our-work/ai-in-primary-care-group

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