A hot topic of conversation in healthcare over the past few years has been artificial intelligence (AI). What have you heard about AI? How have you seen it work in emergency medicine? Is AI after our jobs? In this episode, John takes Drew, Tanner, and Andy through a discussion of how AI is impacting the practice of emergency medicine.

AI in EM: What’s Hype vs. Reality?

• AI is already present in our daily practice of emergency medicine. 
  • Ex: voice dictation, decision-support tools (MIPS), predictive analytics, EKG readings.  
• It’s great for pattern recognition but not actual clinical reasoning. 
• AI can help with efficiency, but it’s not replacing emergency physicians anytime soon.  

Can AI Help With Documentation and Workflow?

• AI scribes are up and coming. From a history-gathering standpoint, they might even be better than us at capturing all the details, but when it comes to synthesizing an MDM, we are still superior.
• AI-generated notes can be helpful but still need physician oversight.  

AI and Clinical Decision Support: Game-Changer or Garbage?

• AI is already assisting with predicting sepsis, MI, and stroke. Can it be used in other areas?
• Is there an opportunity in the future for AI to monitor the track board in the background and give real-time warnings about patients who may be deteriorating?  
• When it comes to pattern recognition, for example, in EKG reading, AI may help to identify subtleties that humans may accidentally overlook. 

Take-Home Points:

1. AI is here, but it’s not magic.  It helps, but it doesn’t replace experience.  
2. It’s great for efficiency, but not foolproof. Always review AI-generated content.  
3. Bias is a real issue. AI is only as good as the data it’s trained on.  
4. Use AI to your advantage—but don’t let it think for you.

Post by Patricia Capone, DO PGY-3

References:  

1. https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e40031
2. https://www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644(24)00043-X/fulltext

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