The introduction of AI in healthcare is far from recent. While today’s advancements may feel novel and fast moving, AI’s history in healthcare dates back to the 1960s, driving innovations in machine learning diagnostics, predictive analytics, fraud detection and other use-cases. However, despite the overwhelming excitement, hype and attention about AI, (in health) the widespread adoption of AI in patient engagement and care-coordination remains in its early stages.
The widespread adoption and scaling of large language models (LLMs) has pushed AI and its clinical applications into mainstream conversations, accelerating curiosity, concern and some fear of being left behind. For the purposes of this Playbook, our focus is on AI in digital patient engagement and mobile health communication. In this context, patient engagement refers to the use of personalized, data-driven communications, mobile and digital user experiences with patients to enhance treatment adherence, improve care coordination, support self-management, and improve overall health and system level outcomes.