Medical & healthcare market research

Thought leadership blog:
What if your doctor were a GP(T)...?

With evidence showing the use of AI is on the rise amongst GPs in the UK Research Director and Healthcare lead Charlotte Sykes and her team decided to investigate behaviours on the other side of the doctor’s table. Their recent survey of over 1,000 UK adults provided valuable insight into the extent patients are using AI in their healthcare journeys today; the data and verbatims showcase clear trends in motivations, and user experience, making for an engrossing read. In this article, Charlotte reflects on their findings and shares her thoughts on the positive, and negative impacts that choosing AI over human healthcare professionals could have for different patient groups in the future. Various organisations, associations and bodies have published research in the last 12 months about doctors’ increasing use of AI, be that Generative, DDS (Diagnostics and decision support systems) or SES (Systems efficiency systems) tools.[1] The general trend is pretty clear: doctors are using AI in their practice, to varying degrees and always heavily caveated, but they are. But, what about patients themselves? We have heard through our work that patients continue to be disheartened in the UK by the difficulty of accessing care, especially primary care (last Summer, the RCGP called on the new government to tackle this issue as a priority)[2], or by the lack of time in an appointment when it finally comes (the 10-min appointment in the UK is amongst the shortest length of appointment amongst high-income countries around the globe).[3] And ONS research into satisfaction with the NHS shows that at least 30% continue post Covid to find it difficult or very difficult to get in touch with their GP practice.[4] So, what if there were a voice that was always there? That you could contact any time day or night? That you could schedule appointments with for the same day, or even the very same minute? What if they were always able to listen, and had unlimited time for you? We’ve all heard of Doctor Google, but what about their descendent, Doctor GPT? In February this year we ran a survey, through our in-house research panel – Opinion Exchange, to capture to what extent patients are using AI in their healthcare journeys, and if so, what this looks like today and might look like in the future. Our survey of 1,062 adults in the UK, revealed that 27% of those who have ever used AI tools have ‘consulted’ Generative AI for issues relating to their health in the past 12 months. More specifically, those of us who are familiar with AI are now turning to it to look up health symptoms, medication side effects and to seek advice on how to manage conditions. With no surprise, we see that those under 55 are far more likely to be doing this than those over 55. Source: Q3. For which of the following have you used Generative AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Bing, Perplexity, Gemini etc.) in the last 12 months? All respondents, 1,062 adults.  It is also evident from our research that males are far more likely to be using AI for health purposes today, and we know that males are typically less likely to engage with primary health services in conventional ways.[5] In fact, in our survey, males are almost twice as likely to be looking up health symptoms, information about medications and seeking advice about how to manage a condition using AI versus females. This feels like a critical finding. We know that men are less likely to seek help for health issues for a multitude of reasons such as traditional masculinity norms, fear of appearing weak, and a relative lack of health literacy. So, it is perhaps unsurprising that men would turn to an AI for these purposes – it makes sense. We know that lack of engagement with HCPs can lead to delayed diagnoses and ultimately poorer health outcomes amongst male populations. This leads us to ask if this trend for men to turn to AI in their health journeys could be leveraged to generate real positive outcomes. How could this be harnessed as a productive way to enable men to engage in health conversations and be siphoned into the system? But is it any good? Amongst those who have turned to Doctor GP(T) (or any AI) for these purposes, a staggering 81% are either satisfied or very satisfied with their use of it for this purpose. Key themes driving satisfaction revolve around its ability to provide concise information quickly, without the need to trawl through websites: "It gave me clear instructions and info; saved time with the pointless waffle/SEO jargon from websites. I could then ask specific questions and get answer." White, Male, 34, North. "It saves me having to trawl through different webpages and search engines. I’m able to also narrow down specifics if there is something which I need it to give me more info on." Asian, 41, Female, Midlands The summarised information it shares was also considered to be less overwhelming than the results of a Google search: "It makes you feel much more informed and usually gives you the general information in a way which is not overwhelming which I like." White, Male, 32, South "Simple and easy to understand. Relevant summaries." White, Female, 35, North And, it is quick to use and, critically, accessible when needed: To save a lot of ringing and waiting for a response from a professional, it was a lot quicker." Asian, Male, 51, London So far, so expected. But what if Doctor GP(T) also started to feel like a better experience than interacting with your human GP? Some of the comments we received would suggest that there may be a tipping point: "I got more information than I have ever got from my doctor." Asian, Female, 26, Scotland "I was given detailed information that felt like I was actually at a consultation with a G." White, Female, 35, North And how might this evolve in the future? Our research showed that 36% of us would be likely to consider using Generative AI tools for health purposes in the future, rising to 44% amongst males. And, amongst those of us who are using AI tools regularly today, this rises to an extraordinary 74% who would be likely to use it for a health consultation. The most prevalent drivers towards this appear to be related to difficulties accessing accessibility human HCPs and speed of response: It’s sometimes hard to speak to a GP. British, White, 75, North East Talking to healthcare professionals has become less rewarding, as GPs and/or nurses do not listen to you. White, Female, 40 Because it takes too long to see a real person in the NHS. White, Male, 61, London Curiosity, peace of mind, further knowledge – not easy to have direct contact with GPs these days. White, Female, Wales, 53 Easier from home not waiting for a GP or hospital. Mixed ethnicity, Female, 40, South West What does this mean for the future of the health landscape? We think this trend is perhaps exciting and concerning in almost equal measure. It is sad to think that continued pressures on the health system in the UK mean that for some, the most available option may be to turn to AI for help with health concerns. I’m worried that it could also mean that disinformation leads some away from seeking advice from a human HCP. But we know that fear, stigma and social norming can be big barriers to engagement with health professionals, so anything that overcomes those must surely be positive on the basis that any engagement is better than none. But of course, there are risks to relying on Doctor GP(T) – so obvious I won’t state them here! What I think is most exciting is how AI could become a conduit to funnel more patients who need care into the system – to capture those who otherwise wouldn’t engage at all. We will certainly be watching this space and plan to repeat our study regularly to observe how this trend unfolds.  How about you? Have you met with Dr GPT yet? Do you have a research requirement within the healthcare space? Click here to get in touch with Charlotte to discuss your project and find out how DJS Research can meet your business needs or explore our medical and healthcare experience.  Article sources: [1] https://www.gmc-uk.org/news/news-archive/doctors-using-ai-share-thoughts-on-its-growing-use-in-medicine  [2] https://www.rcgp.org.uk/News/Government-end-unacceptable-patient-waiting-times [3] https://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/analysis/general-practice-across-the-world/gps-across-the-world-if-15-minute-appointments-are-a-20th-century-relic-is-the-uk-prehistoric     [4] https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/2023/07/13/gp-patient-survey-2023  [5] Missing persons? Men's use of primary care services https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tre.950 

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