AI in clinical settings: balancing innovation, patient care and personalized medicine

In the healthcare landscape dominated by chronic morbidity and associated costs, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a powerful tool for physicians seeking to use lifestyle medicine and preventive care as their standard practice. Whether used to improve patient compliance, inform clinical decision-making, or provide remote monitoring and virtual care, AI can help providers better support 60% of Americans in managing at least one chronic disease, while 40% manage two or more Americans.

In this regard, the rise of AI is particularly timely, as most chronic diseases can be managed effectively and in some cases can be prevented by behavioral and nutritional changes. However, given the increasing number of patients and the greater administrative burden of transferring time and other resources to direct patient care, doing so requires a level of patient education and monitoring.

After proper design and implementation, AI allows doctors to seamlessly add aspects of preventive medicine and chronic disease care to a personalized patient-oriented care program that can be accessed online by patients or through mobile applications. These programs can be accompanied by supplementary information about conditions, exercise plans and diet plans, and recommend activities to reduce stress, improve sleep and manage weight.

Patients' outcomes are better understanding of their condition, higher health literacy, and improved overall health and wellness. For physicians, it leads to better outcomes, higher patient satisfaction, and more successful participation in value-based care and quality models.

Manage chronic conditions more efficiently

The Affordable Care Act provides patients with more than 100 preventive services without out-of-pocket expenses, a popular aspect of the program. However, the number of people aged 35 and older who received all recommended high-priority screenings fell from 8.5% in 2015 to 5.3% in 2020. There is no doubt that the ongoing impact of the global pandemic has further reduced compliance.

The bets to reverse this trend and improve chronic care management and patient compliance will not be higher. Nearly two-thirds of deaths caused by chronic diseases can be traced back to unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, and nearly 80% of chronic diseases can be prevented if people adopt healthy behaviors. In the United States, people with chronic diseases account for more than 90% of health care spending, exceeding $4.75 trillion per year.

Low health literacy also leads to this problem. An adult literacy team reported that only 12% of Americans had adequate health literacy to drive the health care environment and act on the information provided, while a third of the fight was fought on simple health tasks. Limited health literacy makes it difficult to take medications correctly, manage health conditions, effectively utilize care, and access health screening and prevention services. Improved health literacy could prevent nearly 1 million hospital visits a year and save $25 billion in health spending.

These statistics are why more doctors embrace advanced AI and analytics, mobile technology, and data interoperability to integrate prevention and lifestyle medicine into standard care practices. Some are adopting a comprehensive health platform that aggregates and analyzes data from medical records, connected and smart devices, and health and wellness applications to generate viable, evidence-based care recommendations and treatment plans. In some cases, these platforms are integrated with mobile tools that allow patients to implement these care plans, including tailored health strategies such as structured exercise programs, personalized meal planning, and stress management techniques. Some of them also include access to on-site or on-demand fitness classes, nutrition and hydration tracking, and other tools to enhance patient engagement and adherence.

Finally, AI addresses the disconnect between recommendation guidelines and actions by increasing engagement with personalized, viable education and updated education at the right time. Instead of curating all the details of patients at once, AI curates and drives tailor-made message bites and reminders (e.g., drinking water, exercising, or scheduling an appointment) through a patient portal, text messages, or another preferred communication channel. These daily or weekly updates also help enhance healthy habits and encourage continued engagement.

Achieve lifestyle and life-saving – Behavior change

Lifestyle medical interventions can address the root causes of chronic illness by simplifying and encouraging the active activities needed to improve health, including proper nutrition, greater physical exercise, optimized sleep optimization, stress and weight management, better social connections, reduced medication use and behavioral coaching are required to address the root causes of chronic illness.

For example, diabetes currently affects nearly 12% of Americans and is the most expensive chronic disease, with direct medical expenses accounting for $307 million per year. Another 38% of Americans suffer from prediabetes. Although genetics and age-related risk factors affect who has diabetes, lifestyle changes have been shown to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in high-risk individuals by more than 50%.

The real benefits of lifestyle or preventive medicine are realized when every patient with chronic conditions have a unique treatment plan. However, doctors often lack the tools to fully integrate all the necessary components to develop these plans. Intensifying challenges is the conflict between the most common therapeutic elements of drugs and lifestyle changes. For example, steroids can cause weight gain and/or interfere with sleep, and professional guidance can inadvertently conflict with prescription treatment. The patient is trapped in the middle, uncertain about how his instructions are followed and how.

Integrating generative AI into the EHR system can promote better diagnostic and treatment planning by analyzing comprehensive patient information, evidence-based best practices, and latest research and suggesting baseline diagnostic or personalized treatment plans. The physician can then refine these suggestions based on their expertise and patient details. AI can also review a patient's health history, lifestyle, and activity levels and determine the risk of developing certain conditions unless positive steps are taken.

in conclusion

AI is transforming health care in many ways, most importantly, enabling physicians to integrate lifestyle medicine or preventive care and chronic disease management into patient-centered treatment plans. By providing personalized education, reminders, and actionable insights, AI helps bridge the gap between clinical advice and patient engagement, reduce complications, improve outcomes, reduce costs, and reduce care utilization.

Image by Flickr user qwedgeonline

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