Patient Satisfaction With AI Scribes

Overview

This randomised control trial study explores patient satisfaction with the use of an artificial intelligence (AI) notetaker in doctor's consultations. This involves an AI notetaker being used during doctor's consultations to summarise the conversation between the GP and patient. Patient participants in this study will complete a pre-appointment demographic questionnaire, and attend their doctor's appointment as usual. After the appointment, they will complete a second questionnaire which asks about their experience and satisfaction with the consult, as well as their thoughts towards AI notetakers. Participants will then be randomised into three groups. One group will receive standard care (no AI summary emailed to them), the second group will be emailed by their doctor an AI-generated summary of the appointment, and the third group will receive the AI summary + a next steps plan. The next steps plan is generated by AI, and outlines steps they need to take after attending their appointment, based on what was discussed with their doctor. All participants will be emailed a follow-up questionnaire on day three which is tailored to the intervention they received. This re-assesses patient satisfaction with their appointment and the use of AI, as well as their trust in the AI notetaker. Those who receive an AI summary will be asked about their satisfaction with the summary, and those who received an AI summary + next steps plan will be asked about both the summary and next steps plan. This study will be the first to explore patient satisfaction with the use of an AI scribe in doctor's consultations, and aims to gain a better understanding of patient's perspectives on AI notetakers in primary care settings.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being integrated into primary care throughout various physical health contexts. Many clinicians use human-led AI systems to aid with task simplification and documentation in the form of digital scribes. AI scribes record clinical encounters and use natural language processing to convert speech to text, generating a conversation summary. This serves as an efficient and user-friendly tool that can substitute traditional notetaking methods. While emerging evidence demonstrates the benefits of automating documentation for physicians, there is a paucity of research evaluating patients' satisfaction with AI being used during one-to-one consultations. Understanding patients' satisfaction with the use of AI in primary care settings is important because it can give insight into their perceived benefits and concerns toward the technology. These perceptions can affect patients' level of engagement and rapport with their healthcare provider, which is particularly important for optimising health outcomes. Artificial intelligence is being utilised across various healthcare contexts, including detecting, diagnosing, and treating various health condition. Research demonstrates that physicians are largely receptive to AI, with one in four doctors using it regularly in some form and increasingly often. To date, research examining patient views on the use of AI in clinical settings remains limited, particularly with respect to primary care settings. Very little research has been conducted to explore patients' perspectives on AI notetakers being used in primary care settings. Most existing research focuses on physician's views on AI in primary settings, or patient's views on AI in specialised health settings. Existing literature across more specialised settings shows that patients are generally receptive toward AI being used during their care, although there is agreement that it should be used as a tool to support clinicians rather than be used unsupervised. For patients to benefit from AI scribes in primary care, they must first be receptive towards its use. Therefore, this is the first study to examine patients' satisfaction and trust with an AI scribe in doctor's consultations. It is important to research this in order to understand their preferred level of engagement with the technology. This study will address this gap in the literature by providing experimental research on patient's self-reported satisfaction with AI scribes. This research will incorporate patients with a range of ethnicities, ages (18+) and health conditions/concerns. Researching in a primary care setting will enable our study to capture a range of views on artificial intelligence across varying presenting problems, without limiting participants based on their health condition. This study will help to indicate whether patients are receptive to AI notetakers being used during their appointments or not. Understanding people's satisfaction and trust in AI is important because it may effect their level of engagement with their doctor if they frequently use AI. Providing patients with an AI summary of their appointment may improve overall appointment satisfaction. This intervention will remind patients what was discussed during the appointment (including what actions they are expected to take next), which may improve health outcomes by helping patients to take action on the doctor's recommendations. This intervention will be particularly beneficial for patients with complex health conditions who have to recall a substantial amount of information about their treatment.