AI has been a dominating force in conversations around new technology in healthcare.
While AI shows significant promise across specialties and practice settings — from enhanced surgical techniques to scheduling and billing — many practices have yet to integrate these tools into their practice.
Teresa Tam, MD, is a minimally invasive gynecological surgeon in Chicago and runs her own practice, All for Women Healthcare. She told Becker’s that she often feels “inundated” with administrative burden, a sentiment shared by many in medicine.
“I don’t like leaving work for the next day. It is very important that I am able to see the patient, make the notes, and complete the notes,” she said. “I end up doing a lot of work at home. I think that’s the biggest challenge, personally as a private practitioner, being able to complete all of that and with good timing and do it well.”
She feels most optimistic about how AI could alleviate some of this administrative burden.
“I think it could automate a lot of these administrative burdens, as well as things like scheduling, billing, the documentation, all of that, could be helped by using AI,” she said. “[It would give] me more time as a physician, as a surgeon, to focus more on patient care. So that is something that’s important to me.”
Dr. Tam utilizes robotics for minimally invasive surgery techniques and sees AI’s capabilities to improve surgery outcomes as another potential area of its utilization.
“It’s really important that we adapt to new technologies. It helps [patients] during the surgery, intraoperatively, as well as post operatively,” she said. “I think we’ll be able to be more proactive with their management and be able to provide patients more of an educational platform where they could obtain information and not have to worry so much, especially if they can’t reach their physicians.”
She also sees it as a potentially powerful tool in supporting patients between procedures and appointments, a critical aspect of many subspecialties, especially gynecology.
“I think it would tailor a recovery plan and management for my patients, and to individualize that type of management to individual patients’ needs,” she said. “Everyone [has] unique needs. I think it will help facilitate my work or every surgeons’ work, but probably more efficiently and more effectively.”