A healthcare chatbot can be a patient’s first point of contact for some sensitive conversations from mental health to billing, a new CU Anschutz study has found.
While primarily used for certain administrative tasks – such as appointment scheduling or viewing test results – chatbots’ perceived anonymity provided some peace of mind, according to some patients.
Matthew DeCamp, MD, PhD, an associate professor of internal medicine and bioethics and humanities at CU Anschutz, was senior author of the recently published study. DeCamp and his colleagues looked at what tasks patients liked and avoided using the UCHealth online portal chatbot called Livi.
While ethical questions remain around access, privacy, judgment and bias, in DeCamp’s eyes, ensuring trust is not broken as healthcare moves forward into the AI age should be a priority.
“Healthcare is built on trust and is crucial between clinician and patient, " DeCamp said. “But trust is fragile. That means if we make a mistake, it could affect trust in the broader healthcare system.”
In the following Q&A, DeCamp shares why people were comfortable talking to a chatbot for certain healthcare conversations, the importance of explaining how these technologies work to patients and why chatbots should always be patient-first.