Patients' and physicians' attitudes towards artificial intelligence in primary healthcare: A qualitative study

Jana Gundlack, Sarah Negash, Charlotte Buch, Timo Apfelbacher, Thomas Frese, Susanne Unverzagt

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Patients' and physicians' attitudes, primary healthcare

Background:

Artificial intelligence (AI) promises to relieve the healthcare system and to improve healthcare - the potential seems endless. Although AI-based systems have made first steps into healthcare, practical application is limited. For a successful implementation, it is essential to capture the opinions and attitudes of patients and physicians.

Research questions:

The aim is to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of AI among patients and physicians as well as current and possible future areas of application. Furthermore, we aim to explore possible benefits and concerns as well as expectations and implementation suggestions for potential AI-systems in healthcare.

Method:

Focus groups with patients and physicians will be conducted between the end of July and October 2022 until achieving theoretical saturation. The focus groups will be semi-structured using guidelines and digital application examples (mockups). The material will be coded and subjected to a thematic analysis according to Mayring. The results will be used for developing a standardized questionnaire for a following quantitative study. Both studies are part of a project called “PEAK”.

Results:

In pretests, both patients and physicians showed a general interest in AI. One benefit perceived by them is that AI can support medical staff by processing large amounts of data. Both groups are concerned about the lack of human contact. Patients see possible areas of application, for example, in dermatology, physicians rather in radiology and oncology.

Conclusions:

We plan to present first results of our focus groups that will reveal patients’ as well as physicians’ attitudes regarding the use of applications of AI including their acceptance towards AI in healthcare. Further, the areas of application AI is already used or wished to be developed, how AI-based systems should be designed to be useful for patients and physicians and where the participants see themselves in this progress will be uncovered.

Points for discussion:

Which AI-based systems are you using in your work practice and could you please tell us more about your experiences with it?

In case you have participated on a study dealing with AI, can you please tell us the specific focus of the study and the nature of it (quantitative/ qualitative)?

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