For anyone (physicians included) concerned about whether generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools will take your job, the likely answer is no—but those who use generative AI will have an advantage, according to Faranak (Fara) Kamangar, MD, Department Chair, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, who presented on AI at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, San Diego, California.
Dr. Kamangar is a dermatologist and inventor of DermGPT, an AI tool created specifically to help health care providers with clinical tasks to increase productivity. According to Dr. Kamangar, “For every 8 hours of scheduled patient time, ambulatory physicians spend more than 5 hours on the [electronic health record].” Her advice is to use AI when you can to complete clinical tasks and move on.
DermGPT utilizes a learned language model that is based on dermatology knowledge acquired from more than 3000 peer-reviewed articles and texts (eg, systematic literature reviews, other published sources in the field of dermatology). Search output includes citations so that users can confirm that the answers and sources are accurate. “ Still, with all of these safeguards, all AI models can create inaccuracies and it is important to proofread all content,” says Dr. Kamangar.
During her presentation, Dr. Kamangar gave the following examples of potentially useful DermGPT prompts for dermatologists:
- Can you help me write a response to a denial letter to an insurance company for upadacitinib in a patient with atopic dermatitis?
- I am seeing a patient with blisters. What is the differential diagnosis?
- I am prescribing bimekizumab. What labs do I need to check?
Other potential time-saving uses for a dermatologist include:
- prior authorization letters
- coding support
- responses to common patient messages
- letters of recommendation
- information on new treatments.
In Dr. Kamangar’s practice, they have been able to save at least 30 to 60 minutes at the end of the day that is usually spent updating the electronic health record. “This allows us to complete the clinic day much earlier and does not leave work that will spill over to the next day,” she shares. “During my workday, I have [DermGPT] open on my computer, and as clinical tasks arise, if they require more information or assistance, I turn to DermGPT to help de-escalate the task from a moderate to difficult level to an easy task that can be easily managed.”
The next stage of health technology—AI—is here, and physicians are understandably cautious. Board-certified dermatologists, dermatology residents, fellows, and medical students can try DermGPT for free at https://www.dermgpt.com/.
Dr. Kamangar is the founder of DermGPT.
Melissa Sears is the Director, Editorial, of Cutis.