Comprehensive Summary
This study surveyed 218 family medicine department chairs throughout the United States and Canada to see how and if AI is being used in family medicine departments. Out of 111 participants, around 57% stated that they were utilizing AI in some way however, only 38% had formal policies that organized and guided how departments were able to use this in practice. Most departments want to use AI in order to improve clinical operations (around 52%) with others focusing on using it for administrative tasks, education, and research. An interesting find that this study highlighted was that there was minimal budget allocations for AI with a median of 0% and mean of 2.4% of budgets going to AI. However, they found that while the numbers seem alarming, most AI investments happen at the institutional IT level instead of being directly funded by the departments. They also found that larger departments with more staff were most likely to be using AI already, since they have better access to centralized resources. Overall, this study highlights that while many people are discussing how AI can be the future of family medicine, it's still very early stages for its integration into healthcare settings. With a lot of uncertainty around how to strategically implement it and how policies should be shaped, this study highlights finding that can be used to create these guides and policies for AI in family medicine.
Outcomes and Implications
This study is important because it shows how family medicine is adopting AI into its field and what that integration could look like in the coming years. Many people agree that learning how to integrate AI into the medical field is important however, not many guides exist for how that can actually be put into practice. For department chairs and healthcare administrators, this study highlights the need for the creating of a clear framework and policies for AI integration instead of just letting it happen without proper planning. The fact that larger practices are adopting AI faster than smaller practices also suggests that smaller practices might be behind if proper support is not provided, which will only hard patients and affect outcomes. Healthcare providers need to be aware that AI is being adopted quickly into their workflows even if their department itself isn't investing in them. This also highlights the importance of training and preparation for AI-enhanced practices to ensure that everyone is comfortable and knowledgeable about systems as they are being introduced and used.