Patient use of AI is here to stay, and it’s important for healthcare teams to address it early on rather than ignore or dismiss it. Educating patients on when AI is most useful—and where its limitations lie—helps ensure it’s used as a supplement, not a replacement for clinical care.
Key takeaways
- Healthcare questions make up one in four weekly ChatGPT prompts.
- AI can help patients check symptoms, understand medical information, and prepare for visits—but the risk of misinformation and hallucinations remains.
- By understanding AI’s best uses and limitations, providers can guide patients toward safer, more informed use.
Patients are increasingly turning to AI tools for health advice—before, during, and after clinical visits. But without clear guidance on when it supports care and when it doesn’t, patients risk confusion and potentially making poor medical decisions.
Educating patients on safe AI use isn’t optional, but rather, a critical component of building patient-provider trust and achieving better health outcomes. Read on to learn where AI excels, where it falls short, and how to address it with patients effectively.
Does Addressing Patient AI Use Matter?
OpenAI, the company behind the AI chatbot ChatGPT, estimates that globally, people ask 40 million health-related questions per day. Furthermore, healthcare prompts account for roughly 25% of all weekly prompts. From exploring symptoms to understanding medical terminology and treatment options, AI is already a part of the patient journey, whether clinicians like it or not.
Many patients consult AI before seeing their care team—often using their phones to look up symptoms or questions in real time, especially if they have a particular concern. Ignoring or dismissing patients’ AI use can create a disconnect and erode trust in the patient-provider relationship.
Patients need to feel heard and understood, and addressing AI use from the start allows providers to identify potential AI misinformation. Even a simple question like, “Have you looked anything up before coming in?” can open the door to better conversations and stronger trust.
When Is AI Helpful for Patients and Where Does It Fall Short?
AI can be a powerful tool for patient health advice, but only when used appropriately.
When AI Is Useful
Self-service AI tools are helpful for patient education, managing symptoms, preparing for medical appointments, and more:
- Organizing Symptoms: AI tools can help patients better manage and understand their symptoms, creating opportunities for better care. For instance, AI can track symptoms chronologically, connect seemingly unrelated health symptoms, and even ask patients about symptom length or severity. Patients gain a clearer picture of their symptoms to share with their care team.
- Learning Medical Terminology: Patient education materials and health reports can be dense and filled with terminology patients don’t recognize or understand. Tools like ChatGPT can help translate complex medical terms and concepts into easy-to-read summaries. When patients better understand their health information, they’re more likely to follow care plans and stay engaged.
- Preparing Thoughtful Questions: AI can help patients prepare for their appointments by clarifying their concerns and reasons for their visit ahead of time, then turning those into specific questions to ask their clinicians. This preparation helps patients use appointment time more effectively and supports deeper, more focused conversations.
Where AI Falls Short
AI generates answers based on the data it was trained on, and often lacks the context needed for accurate, individualized medical advice. Its data can also be biased, incomplete, or outdated, making some responses unreliable. Two major areas where AI falls short are:
- Hallucinations: AI may have gaps in its data, leading to misinformation and hallucinations. Without clinical knowledge, patients may not recognize when AI-generated information is incorrect or misleading, and may make decisions that could do more harm than good.
- Making Care Decisions: It’s critical to reinforce that AI should not be used to diagnose or treat medical conditions.
- False Information: While AI is helpful for preparing for appointments, it can easily get things wrong, and providers should stress to patients that all medical decisions need to be made with their care team.
What Matters Most When Educating Patients About AI Usage?
When educating patients about AI, care teams should tailor their approach based on individual needs. A patient’s health literacy and age influence how likely they are to be using AI and trusting its responses.
Health Literacy
Patients with lower health literacy may be more vulnerable to AI-generated misinformation. It’s important to advise all patients about AI’s limitations and to stress that any health information from AI should be verified by their care team or reputable medical sources rather than taken at face value.
Generational Differences
Generational differences influence how likely patients are to adopt and trust AI for health information. AI use varies widely across generations. Boomers are the least likely to use AI, with only 20% having tried AI tools. And while 78% of Gen X are aware of ChatGPT, they’re hesitant to use it due to privacy concerns.
AI adoption is much higher among Millennials and Gen Z, with 58% and 76%, respectively, using ChatGPT or other self-service tools. Younger patients may be more open to using AI, while older patients may need more guidance and reassurance.
Empower Patients With Safe AI Practices
By helping patients understand where AI excels—and how to avoid its shortcomings—you can improve the quality of health information they receive and encourage them to take greater ownership of their care decisions.
RXNT’s integrated solutions support this approach by streamlining communication and enhancing the patient experience. Learn how RXNT can help your practice incorporate AI into everyday care.
FAQs
How can I help patients use AI chatbots and tools safely?
Providers should encourage patients to use AI tools for preparation and education and avoid sharing any identifiable information.
What should patients know about the limits of AI in healthcare?
AI can be inaccurate, biased, or outdated. It often lacks important context for diagnosing and treating conditions, and should never replace clinical care.
When should you address the use of AI in patient care?
Address AI use early in the patient journey, as many patients are already using these tools before their first interaction.
