AAFP starting large-scale project to examine AI technology in family practice

artificial intelligence illustration: © Nanthiwan - stock.adobe.com

The American Academy of Family Physicians is embarking on a large-scale study to find the best ways to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into primary care.

Meanwhile, some physicians have advocated for noncompete agreements to protect their practices. But doctors largely have come out against contracts between employers and employees that limit how physicians, other clinicians and other types of workers can practice their trades.

Jen Brull, MD, FAAFP, has taken office as AAFP president. In an exclusive interview with Medical Economics, she discussed some of the projects and policies that will develop during her term. Those include “Use of Digital Health and AI in Primary Care,” an all-member survey that AAFP Executive Vice President and CEO Shawn Martin introduced as part of this year’s 2024 Family Medicine Experience conference.

If you are unfamiliar with Brull and her work as a longtime family doctor, here is an introduction and here are her fellow leaders at the Academy, the largest medical society dedicated solely to primary care.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Medical Economics: AAFP has begun a new project with the firm Rock Health about the use of artificial intelligence in family medicine and primary care. Can you explain what that is?

Jen Brull, MD, FAAFP
_{© American Academy of Family Physicians}

Jen Brull, MD, FAAFP: I'm very excited about this. There are some in medicine who fear that AI will take the place of physicians. I am going to argue that I think AI will never take the place of family physicians, because last I knew, a computer could not hug people, and as soon as you close the chat, it forgets everything it knew about you. So that continuous, comprehensive relationship that family physicians have with their patients just isn't possible with AI. Having said that, AI is an incredible opportunity to combat some of those administrative burdens, things that contribute to burnout that I mentioned earlier is taking people sooner from our specialty, and that's exactly what we're launching. Over the next few years, we will partner with Rock Health, with family physicians, and we will look at, where is AI already helping family physicians? How could we amplify and magnify that and build beyond that in the space of what's next? How can we make sure that all of those workflows, technologies, know how perpetuate to all family physicians, so that they can use these tools? We think that this will help with that well-being piece. We also think that it will help with reducing that administrative burden that you've got to take care of as part of your job.

Medical Economics: That project is going to include an all-member survey for the organization. At the risk of creating a spoiler, what would you like to see develop with artificial intelligence in health care?

Jen Brull, MD, FAAFP: I would love to see artificial intelligence help family physicians with the work that is not required for them to do cognitively. So, for example, like some very straightforward and easy examples, it is very possible to set up a set of conditions by which it's appropriate to refill a medication for a patient, to teach that to a learning technology like AI, and to have that AI be responsible for that cognitive work on the regular. Many times it is a team-based care and nurses are doing this work. I'd also love to relieve them from this and give them some time to support the tasks that are more suited for their skills. Another great example is, AI can help a lot with making sure that responses to patients are timely and that messages are triaged appropriately. If you're a physician, you log in at the beginning of the day. You had your chart, your inbox cleaned out yesterday, but at 8:30 this morning, you have 250 messages through your portal. Where do you start? How do you know that you are addressing the most important message first, and that your attention is on those messages that require your response? As opposed to the many messages which could be answered either through a protocol – hey, your labs look great, and I know things about you in terms of your chronic disease control, you can get them in six months – and the physician reviews that and signs it off, instead of doing all that cognitive work. I think that that is one of the early spaces in which we could see some great progress.

Medical Economics: Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission banned the use of noncompete agreements for many workers. That declaration is being challenged in court. Can you explain the AAFP’s stance on noncompetes?

Jen Brull, MD, FAAFP: Overall, we see this as a win. It is designed to stimulate conversations, critical conversations in these spaces. There is certainly concern for employers who are family physicians, who have large groups, who don't want to have be in a competition situation. Overwhelmingly, though, we often see this as a cause of harm to family physicians, and so the fact that we have some ability to push back against this, even with the current actions through the court, is a positive.