Q&A: Patient trust required before AI-aided remote interventions can be implemented
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Key takeaways:
- AI-aided remote interventions could help patients who do not have easy access to health care.
- Such interventions must be personalized to be used optimally and ethically.
Much has been written about the potential of artificial intelligence-aided remote interventions to help cardiologists improve patient care, but potential drawbacks and practical issues all must be considered.
These topics were explored in a session at HRX 2023, the Heart Rhythm Society’s meeting on digital health advancements.
Sana M. Al-Khatib, MD, MHS, FHRS, CCDS, professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center and executive producer at HRX, who moderated the session, spoke with Healio about the pros and cons of AI-aided remote interventions, the reimbursement landscape for them, what might be coming in this area in the near future that clinicians need to watch out for, and more.
Healio: What are the potential advantages of AI-aided remote interventions?
Al-Khatib: Remote interventions in general can enhance our reach to patients who do not have easy access to health care and to those who may be too busy to come to clinic. If such interventions are AI-aided, they may have the potential of achieving better results in relation to effectiveness and safety. Of course, this has to be confirmed in well-designed and well-conducted research studies.
Healio: What are the potential drawbacks of AI-aided remote interventions?
Al-Khatib: One concern, of course, is not being able to connect with patients on a personal level and gain their trust. Gaining patients’ trust is of paramount importance before we, as a medical community, start deploying AI-aided remote interventions. It is also important to ensure data privacy and cybersecurity. We also need to keep in mind that patients are different, and so we need to personalize these interventions and deploy them in ways that are acceptable and appealing to patients. We should demand strong evidence that supports the role of the AI-aided interventions. We should be cognizant of the potential to increase the digital divide and to adopt approaches that help us avoid these unintended consequences.
Healio: To what extent are AI-aided remote interventions being used now?
Al-Khatib: In electrophysiology, very little. In cardiology, perhaps a bit more, but still very limited.
Healio: To what extent might use of AI-aided remote interventions expand in the next few years?
Al-Khatib: I expect to see expansion in the use of AI-aided remote interventions, but it may take several years before we see meaningful uptake.
Healio: To what extent might insurance companies embrace reimbursement for AI-aided remote interventions?
Al-Khatib: This is a very important question. I suspect this will take time, and the slow adoption of AI-aided remote interventions is driven, in a large part, by the lack of reimbursement.
Healio: What other angles of interest came up during this discussion at HRX?
Al-Khatib: These were the main points that came up and we talked about these topics from different perspectives representing the patient, the clinician, the inventor, industry, the society, regulators (we had an FDA representative). It was a pretty rich discussion.
Healio: What are the most important things clinicians need to watch out for on this subject? Al-Khatib: Clinicians should look for the data and should demand robust data to support these AI-aided interventions before adopting them. I also think we need to stay informed as patients may outpace us in wanting to adopt these interventions, and it is going to be incumbent on us to educate and inform patients based on the existing evidence.
Reference:
- Al-Khatib SM, et al. AI-aided remote interventions – Will this transform healthcare delivery & outcomes? Presented at: HRX 2023; Sept. 21-23, 2023; Seattle.
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