Strange things

September 14, 2024 -- In DocGPT I blogged about tech's new darling, AI and its applications in medicine. Here's another, described by my RN friend S. (who shall remain anonymous for obvious reasons): nursing helpline call monitoring. In Revolutionizing Patient Support: How AI Enhances Healthcare Call Center Operations, an application is described, similar to the one used in the nursing helpline where she works. "The nurses hate it," she writes, "but it's part of the job." A job she loves anyway.

Evidently, the rules AI enforces at her facility are draconian, such as firing people without recourse for not calling back if a call is dropped. And, she says, the plan is to eventually have AI not only monitor but replace RNs entirely.

My thoughts on this matter are two: first, given the complexity, nuance, and emotional components of this work, it's hard to imagine a computer doing the job as well as an experienced, empathetic nurse. And second, it reflects nursing's relative weakness in the healthcare hierarchy. MDs, for example, would never submit to having their patient interactions monitored and evaluated.

Big Brother? Brave New World? Or cost-saving and quality improvement? We'll just have to wait and see how it all turns out.

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