ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Tara L Upshaw, MHSc; Amy Craig-Neil, MSc; Jillian Macklin, MSc; Carolyn Steele Gray, MA, PhD; Timothy C. Y. Chan, PhD; Jennifer Gibson, PhD; Andrew D. Pinto, MD, MSc
Corresponding Author: Andrew D. Pinto, MD, MSc; Department of Family and Community Medicine - Faculty of Medicine - University of Toronto.
Email: andrew.pinto@utoronto.ca
DOI: 10.3122/jabfm.2022.220171R1
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Canada, Family Medicine, Qualitative Research
Dates: Submitted: 05-06-2022; Revised: 10-14-2022; Accepted: 12-05-2022
Status: In production for ahead of print.
BACKGROUND: Artificial intelligence (AI) implementation in primary care is limited. Those set to be most impacted by AI technology in this setting should guide the application. We organized a national deliberative dialogue with primary care stakeholders from across Canada to explore how they thought AI should be applied in primary care.
METHODS: We conducted 12 virtual deliberative dialogues with 22 patients, 21 interprofessional primary care providers, and 5 health system leaders from eight Canadian provinces to identify shared priorities for applying AI in primary care. Dialogue data were thematically analyzed using interpretive description approaches.
RESULTS: Participants thought that AI should be first applied in primary care to documentation, practice operations, and triage tasks, in hopes of improving efficiency while maintaining person-centred delivery, relationships, and access. They viewed complex AI-driven clinical decision support and proactive care tools as impactful but recognized potential risks to patient safety, given numerous external limitations. Appropriate training and implementation support were the most important external enablers of safe, effective, and patient-centred use of AI in primary care settings.
INTERPRETATION: Our findings offer an agenda for the future application of AI in primary care that is grounded in the shared values of patients and providers. We propose that, from conception, AI developers should work with primary care stakeholders as co-design partners, developing tools that respond to their shared priorities.