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As part of their jobs, doctors and nurses must fill electronic health care records for every patient they see. The process has gotten so tedious and complicated that some health care professionals feel their jobs are now focused more on documentation than caring for patients, said David Butler, an executive at Lucem Health. Butler describes it as writing minutes, agendas and detailed notes for 25 meetings every day.

“That’s where AI can really come in and help us be doctors again, and not digital transcription,” Butler said. “AI feels like the cavalry. We need it.”

How is AI Currently Used in Health Care?

In large hospitals and clinics, AI helps nurses write messages to patients and lets doctors summarize patient visits without taking a single note. The technology can provide patients with early diagnoses of diseases, Butler said. Those practices have saved health care providers a lot of time and can help reduce burnout among doctors, he added.

What are the Challenges of AI Adoption?

The panelists said health system leaders have been slow to adopt newer AI tools due to fears over machine errors, which they said are actually rare. The panelists said a cultural shift is needed to help health care professionals understand how new technology can serve both patients and providers.

What Does the Future Hold for AI in Health Care?

Improving health care AI tools can be time-consuming, said Brad Taylor, who leads technology research for the Medical College of Wisconsin. The next step will be to create technology to “extract meaningful information” out of doctors’ AI-generated notes and using the information to identify better treatment for patients, he said.

Bob Lindner, co-founder of the Madison-based company Veda, predicted the health care technology field will gradually evolve. Small wins may evade headlines, but major breakthroughs will draw more attention to the field, he said.

“In order to do it well, we need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the kind of technology we have in front of us because it is a huge opportunity,” he said. “Successful adoption is a big part of the game.”

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