Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1495274
33 CIO / HEALTH IT The promises and pitfalls of ChatGPT: 10 digital leaders on how hospitals might use it By Giles Bruce, Naomi Diaz and Erica Carbajal I n a little more than two months since its launch, ChatGPT passed the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam and prompted major scientific journals to ban or restrict its use in research. Now, hospital and health system leaders are trying to determine where the technology could be most helpful and where it may cause harm. e artificial intelligence-powered chatbot is being touted as a tool that could "transform" healthcare, as it is said to be capable of mirroring intuitive human conversation. According to OpenAI, the tool's creator, ChatGPT works by learning from human feedback. e tool is also said to be able to answer follow-up questions, admit its own mistakes, challenge incorrect premises and reject inappropriate requests. While the tool is still in its early stages, hospital and health system IT and physician leaders believe the technology has significant potential. "ere are rare moments when you see a new technology capability and realize the future world will never be the same and will inevitably be transformed by this technology. Like the first iPhone, this is one of those moments," Aaron Neinstein, MD, vice president of digital health at UCSF Health in San Francisco, told Becker's. Still, there are plenty of questions surrounding how quickly the tool may start to be integrated into healthcare workflows and what its limits are. "I don't think it is a question of 'if ' but 'how fast' and 'exactly how,'" said Tony Ambrozie, senior vice president and chief digital and information officer at Coral Gables-based Baptist Health South Florida. "AI being helpful to physicians and minimizing the administrative EHR burden on physicians would be very valuable given the well- documented physician EHR burnout." Still, he added, the technology's strategy of constantly learning from what it is being asked could lead to privacy concerns in healthcare, as it could be used to deanonomize patient data. ChatGPT also sounds authoritative even when it is wrong. "at is a major problem for critical activities — like healthcare — where the providers using such tool will need to constantly evaluate the validity, accuracy and value add of what's been suggested before acting on it," Mr. Ambrozie said. Virtual 'assistant' for clinicians? Several leaders referenced clinical documentation as a key opportunity for ChatGPT to improve workflows. "e ability to exponentially extend a person's reach and productivity is a truly exciting development," said Tom Barnett, chief information and digital officer of Memphis, Tenn.-based Baptist Memorial Health Care. "For the physician, as an example, the capability to use this type of generative AI to keep close tabs on an entire patient population as well as summarize individual encounter notes all while simultaneously cross-examining most academic literature and research studies to cite within visit documentation in near real time is just the type of major accelerator healthcare could benefit from." Darrell Bodnar, CIO of Whitefield, N.H.- based North Country Healthcare, who tested the tool, said he was impressed by its ability to be a "digital assistant" for healthcare professionals. "e possibilities seem endless when looking at a beneficial digital assistant in almost any portion of the healthcare patient Image Credit: Adobe Stock