Q&A: Artificial intelligence has the potential to dramatically transform primary care

Artificial intelligence can alleviate administrative burdens, improve diagnostic accuracy, identify patients most at risk for certain diseases and reduce unnecessary procedures, according to a recent paper. Yet, "most primary care providers do not know what it is, how it will impact them and their patients and what its key limitations and ethical pitfalls are," Steven Lin, MD, the author of the paper and family medicine service chief and head of technology innovation in the division of primary care and population health at Stanford Medicine, wrote in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. He added that primary care is the ideal medical specialty to take charge in what he called the "health care artificial intelligence (AI) revolution." Lin shared more details on this emerging technology and how primary care can maximize its potential in an interview with Healio. Healio: Why should primary care lead the "health care AI revolution"?