One of the biggest shifts in my career as a primary care physician hasn’t come from a new drug or a breakthrough surgical technique, but instead, from the evolution of information technology and data. My first few weeks of medical school in the mid-2000s were a workshop on how to manage a high volume of medical information in practice – a topic deemed so important it had to be presented to us before setting foot in anatomy lab, that rite of passage for first-year medical students.
Today, the challenge has only accelerated: an overwhelming amount of data, technology, evidence, and guidelines are both supporting and intruding on our experience. The healthcare industry generates approximately 30% of the world’s data volume. As a result, clinicians are often forced into difficult choices about how to spend our limited time. How do we carefully review each chart, document every encounter, and communicate with staff and colleagues, while still finding the presence to fully hear a patient’s history, understand their concerns, and provide thorough counseling?
As artificial intelligence (AI) tools promise to streamline workflows and provide real-time decision support, the real question is whether these tools will ultimately support our connection with the person sitting in front of us. True clinical excellence requires both evidence-based precision and authentic human connection.
At the same time, patients are now seeking answers online – including from AI chatbots – some of which can deliver seemingly accurate information with endless patience. In this rapidly evolving relationship between clinicians, patients, technology, and data, it is critical to remember that both we and our patients are people, and our experience in delivering and receiving healthcare is still primary, whatever tools we use to accomplish that goal.
Why Human Connection Still Matters
While our culture may revere Dr. House-type physicians who are brilliant but cantankerous, in reality, clinicians shouldn’t have to choose between knowledge and compassion. The most successful care happens when the two sides merge. Technology can help us gather and process data to support our decision-making. It can also support our communication, but it cannot replace the trust and respect that grow only over years of a relationship.
Even the most accurate diagnosis or treatment plan is not helpful if a patient can’t or won’t follow through with it. A patient’s values, education, and daily struggles shape whether they’ll adhere to a physician’s recommendations. I did not understand the power of this relationship until I had been practicing for a number of years. Patients would start to simply take my advice unquestioned, even for interventions like influenza vaccines or cancer screenings they may have declined in the past. I’d often be told, “I’ll do it if you say so, doc.”
That degree of trust and respect can only come over time, when a clinician listens and learns about a patient’s daily realities – their work schedule, financial constraints, and family responsibilities – and tailors a care plan designed for that individual. For example, telling a patient with a demanding job and two young children to “rest more” is an empty recommendation if we don’t also help think through how to make that realistic.