TT’S TECH TAKE 003

💻❤️ TT'S TECH TAKE 003
What good is smarter healthcare technology if the people who need healthcare most cannot use it?

Today's tech. Five human questions. One healthier future.

AI is becoming part of healthcare through patient portals, symptom checkers, care coordination, and other digital systems. But recent research raises an important question: as healthcare becomes more technologically advanced, are we assuming every patient has the same ability to access and use that technology?

Researchers examining AI and lower socioeconomic status highlighted barriers involving digital access, health and digital literacy, cognitive demands, accessibility, and trust. I am excited about what AI can do for healthcare. I also believe innovation has to work for the people it is meant to serve. That brings me to TT's Top 5

💻❤️ TT'S TOP 5

1️⃣ Does it actually help people?
It can! AI may improve access to information, communication, and healthcare navigation. But those benefits only exist when patients can actually reach and use the technology.

2️⃣ Who could be left behind?
Patients with limited internet access, lower digital or health literacy, fewer financial resources, accessibility needs, or less experience with technology may face barriers before AI gets the chance to help. The digital front door to healthcare cannot become another locked door.

3️⃣ Is it fair, and who carries the burden when it is not?
If digital healthcare requires patients to provide the device, internet, technical knowledge, and confidence to navigate it, some of the burden shifts to the patient.

4️⃣ Does it protect human connection and trust?
Patients should understand when AI is involved, what it is doing, and where a human being fits into their care. Technology should help patients feel connected, not confused.

5️⃣ What would responsible innovation look like?
Designing for the person with the fewest resources in the room, not only the person with the newest technology. That means reducing complexity, considering literacy and accessibility needs, providing alternatives when digital access is limited, and involving the communities who use these systems.

💭 MY TAKE
I'm excited about where AI can take healthcare, but access has to be part of the conversation. Innovation should not only work for patients with reliable internet, newer devices, and confidence navigating digital systems. It should work for patients without those advantages too. Responsible healthcare technology means asking who might struggle before we celebrate what it can do. The digital front door to healthcare cannot become another locked door!

💬 YOUR TURN. WHAT'S YOUR TAKE?
As healthcare becomes more digital and AI driven, what responsibility do healthcare organizations and technology companies have to make sure patients with fewer resources are not left behind?

🔗 READ THE RESEARCH
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42762121/