Can AI Substitute Human Doctors?

Healthcare is a constantly evolving field, shaped by advances in knowledge and technology. As medical tools and systems continue to change, healthcare practitioners must adapt to new approaches. Over the past decade, one area that has witnessed significant transformation is medical note-taking. From in-person and virtual scribes to dictation devices and speech-to-text technology, innovations in this space have been rapid. Today, with the advent of machine learning, we find ourselves entering an era dominated by AI-powered medical scribes. This technology holds immense potential to improve how physicians deliver care, but it also raises important questions about its impact on the healthcare profession and the future role of clinicians.

While AI in healthcare promises numerous benefits, it also prompts concerns. Could AI advancements such as wearable health devices or diagnostic tools threaten the roles of primary care physicians, radiologists, and oncologists? Will automation push clinicians aside in favor of systems that are designed to perform tasks faster and more cost-effectively? The answer is not straightforward. It’s important to recognize that AI isn’t intended to replace human doctors but to augment their capabilities, making their work more efficient and focused on patient care.

AI is Here to Serve Humans, Not Replace Them Absolutely

Many critics suggest that AI will eventually replace human clinicians, but this view overlooks the true purpose of AI in medicine. While AI can be programmed to diagnose conditions or monitor patient data, it is being developed primarily to assist humans in their roles, not eliminate them. In the realm of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and medical documentation, AI can significantly improve efficiency. Studies from the Mayo Clinic and others have shown that the implementation of EHRs has, in many cases, negatively affected patient care due to the time physicians must spend on data entry. A 2020 Mayo Clinic study found that the shift to EHR systems disrupted patient care, with 100% of patients reporting a decrease in their overall care experience. This suggests that while technology may streamline certain administrative tasks, it can also detract from the personal engagement that is essential in healthcare.

Patients place a high value on the quality of their interactions with healthcare providers. For many, the experience of feeling heard and understood is just as important as receiving medical treatment. If technology like AI replaces human engagement during appointments, patients may feel a sense of disconnection. Instead of replacing clinicians, AI should be designed to eliminate time-consuming tasks that take doctors away from the core of their work—direct patient care.

The Vital Role of Empathy in Healthcare

One thing AI will never be able to replace is the human ability to empathize. AI, at its core, relies on algorithms designed to follow binary processes that lead to specific outcomes based on data. However, humans don’t operate in binary terms. Emotional intelligence, intuition, and compassion play crucial roles in healthcare and problem-solving. AI systems may be able to process large amounts of data quickly, but they cannot replicate the nuanced understanding that humans bring to patient care. This unique ability to empathize with others is essential in healthcare and cannot be replaced by technology.

The importance of human connection in healthcare has never been clearer. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted how much we need personal contact and interaction. Social isolation has been linked to various psychological and cognitive disorders, including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, making it evident that human connection is essential for mental well-being. AI in healthcare should not be viewed as a competitor to human doctors but as a support system designed to relieve clinicians of repetitive, clerical tasks, allowing them to focus on what they do best: providing compassionate care.

Healthcare Future: Humans Leading, AI Supporting 

A more fitting way to describe AI's role in healthcare in the future might be: “AI will not replace doctors, but doctors who don’t use AI may be replaced,” as Dr. Sangeeta Reddy, Director at Apollo Hospitals in India, has stated.

In healthcare, AI is increasingly being used to assist in clinical decision-making. In this framework, the healthcare provider remains the one making the decisions, with human judgment taking priority. AI’s role is to support and enhance this process.

For instance, AI could be set up to notify the healthcare provider about factors that the algorithm may not have considered. It would help the provider assess how the AI's suggestions can be useful in a given situation or for a particular patient.

An example of this would be if an AI suggests antidepressants for a patient who is pregnant. The AI could then alert the doctor that these medications have not been tested on pregnant patients, which would lead the doctor to take this into account when making a decision.

In this model, where humans lead and AI supports, the healthcare system of the future must focus on more than just improving AI. Training healthcare workers in both AI understanding and human intelligence is essential for this system to succeed.

Education should include helping healthcare providers know when to question patterns, how to challenge predictions, and the importance of trusting their instincts. This would also help develop the ability to handle uncertainty.

This kind of training would reduce the risk of automation bias, where humans rely on AI to make decisions without questioning the algorithm, even when there’s evidence that the AI is wrong.

AI offers a valuable opportunity to reflect on which aspects of human intelligence are most important in healthcare and which tasks can be enhanced by technology. Both human brains and AI are good at predicting outcomes, but humans can analyze and question these predictions, while AI can process much more data. Together, both are necessary for managing patient care.

SOAPsuds: Assisting Doctors to Get Rid of Note Bloat 

At SOAPsuds, our approach to AI is rooted in this philosophy. Our goal is not to replace physicians but to empower them. We understand that the administrative burden placed on doctors has become overwhelming, with hours spent on documentation and clerical duties taking time away from direct patient care. SOAPsuds is an AI solution that handles the mundane, repetitive tasks of medical documentation, freeing up clinicians to do what they are trained to do: care for patients. We believe that AI should serve as a tool to enhance the work-life balance of healthcare professionals and improve patient care, not as a replacement for human physicians.

By automating time-consuming tasks like note-taking and transcription, AI solutions like SOAPsuds can help restore the human element of healthcare. Physicians will be able to devote more time to direct interactions with patients, providing the empathy, understanding, and care that no machine can replicate. It’s time to stop asking healthcare providers to function like computers and instead let them focus on their true calling which would be helping others and making a difference in the lives of patients. With the right tools, we can ensure that technology works for us, not against us, in the quest for better healthcare for all.