By Katie Poole
This past weekend, my 9-year-old son came running into the house with his arm and neck covered in a stinging, bright red rash. He said he had tried to retrieve a ball that had landed in some weeds and, right after, the reaction started. I will admit, I’m not super familiar with native plant species and I typically would have immediately taken him to his PCP or an urgent care out of caution.
I’m a single mom with three school-aged kids living in a rural part of NY and an urgent trip to a doctor’s office would have been time-consuming, stressful, and expensive. It also would have prolonged my son’s discomfort (and surely my own when my other two children complained about the inconvenience of having to tag along). So, I decided to try something different.
I asked my kids to show me the plants where the ball had landed. I opened ChatGPT, snapped a quick photo of the weeds in question, and asked if anything in the photo could have caused my son's reaction. Within seconds, ChatGPT identified the culprit as a stinging nettle plant (cute name, rude plant) and advised me on how to treat the reaction and ease his pain, all of which was manageable from home. In a few minutes, my son was feeling much better and back outside playing. Crisis averted.
The whole incident got me thinking about AI’s potential to change primary care. Instead of an inconvenient trip to a doctor’s office, I got a quick and accurate answer and was able to treat him from the comfort of my home. As demonstrated by this incident, AI tools like ChatGPT, are currently able to make healthcare more accessible and convenient. The promise of convenience and a lightened load feels like a myth we keep being promised but always remains on the horizon. And yet….
Imagine a world where AI-driven diagnostic tools are as common as household thermometers, enabling instant insights into health needs and issues. AI’s ability to support immediate diagnostics and treatment recommendations could significantly reduce the burden on the healthcare system, as well as for consumers, especially in underserved rural areas like my own. The technology exists already, so is this really that far out of vision?
As AI continues to advance, traditional primary care services could become increasingly self-managed. This makes me wonder what primary care will look like 10 years from now. What will be the role for primary care providers? What will member engagement and care management look like in the years ahead?
The future is unknown, but it is hard to imagine that the healthcare industry is not altered in significant ways by AI. My experience this weekend showed me just how valuable access to AI can be and, at the same time, how essential it will be to thoughtfully integrate AI into the broader healthcare system. The future could be incredibly bright with AI, but we must navigate the challenges carefully to ensure it solves, not exasperates, care fragmentation.