AI in Healthcare: A Powerful New Partner in Your Care

By Dr. Robert Duhaney, MD

Artificial Intelligence—better known as AI—is quickly becoming one of the most transformative tools in healthcare. While it might sound futuristic, AI is already showing up in practical, helpful ways in clinics and hospitals around the country, including right here at One Medical.

But what exactly is AI? And how does it impact your care?

AI: Not a Replacement, but a Reinforcement

Let’s be clear: AI isn’t here to replace your doctor. Instead, when deployed correctly, it’s a powerful support tool that helps healthcare teams work smarter, more efficiently, and—most importantly—more humanely. By automating repetitive tasks and helping surface key information, AI allows us as your care team to focus more on what really matters: you.

Real-World Examples of AI in Action

1. Faster, More Accurate Diagnoses

• Radiologists now use AI to help analyze X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs. These tools can highlight areas of concern—such as early tumors, subtle fractures, or signs of pneumonia—sometimes even faster than the human eye.

• In dermatology, image-based AI can help flag suspicious moles for further evaluation, potentially catching melanoma earlier.

2. Personalized Risk Detection

• AI-powered systems can analyze patterns in your blood work, medications, and vitals to identify early signs of problems like diabetes, heart disease, or kidney dysfunction. These are things we our tech teams are working with us now to develop and refine.

• So for example, a patient with normal cholesterol but an upward-trending A1c and subtle blood pressure elevation might trigger an early alert for prediabetes—allowing us to focus our follow up visits on lifestyle changes before medication is needed.

3. Smarter Appointment Scheduling and Follow-Up

• At some practices, AI systems can predict which patients are most likely to miss appointments and offer reminders or alternative visit times. This helps reduce gaps in care and keeps patients on track.

4. Language Support and Communication

• AI-enabled translation tools are making it easier for clinicians to communicate with patients in multiple languages, especially during virtual visits or intake forms.

  
  

How One Medical Uses AI—Backed by Amazon’s Technology

At One Medical, we are fortunate to be powered by Amazon’s cutting-edge healthcare technology—which means your care is supported by some of the most advanced, secure, and privacy-conscious tools available.

Here are a few ways we use AI to support your care:

• Transcribing Visit Notes in Real Time: During your visit, we may use AI-assisted tools to help document our conversation accurately and efficiently. This allows us to spend more time talking with you—not typing.

• Speeding Up Portal Responses: We get quite a bit of patient messages in the portal. And we welcome the conversations. Common patient questions—like medication refills, lab result follow-ups, or appointment rescheduling—can now be triaged and drafted using AI-powered assistance... but don’t worry: everything is still reviewed by our team before any clinical action is taken!

• Protecting Your Privacy: All of our AI tools operate within a HIPAA-compliant environment. Your personal health information is secure, encrypted, and never used for purposes beyond your care and you have the option of opting out of AI use in transcribing a visit, for instance.

  
  

The Human Side Still Matters Most

AI may be smart—but it doesn’t have genuineq empathy, experience, or insight into your values and goals. That’s where our relationship matters. At One Medical, your provider remains your primary guide and advocate, using AI to enhance—not replace—our connection with you.

We still want to know what matters to you: how you're sleeping, how your back feels, whether you're worried about that lab result, or how life stress is affecting your health. Context and personalization is key.

What to Expect Going Forward

You’ll likely see more AI-powered features in your healthcare experience over the next few years. These might include:

• Virtual symptom checkers and AI chat bot triage tools

• More personalized wellness and prevention plans

• Faster results and more data-driven insights

If you’re ever unsure how a new feature works, just ask. We believe in transparency and partnership when it comes to technology.

Final Thoughts

AI in healthcare is here—and it’s helping us take better care of you. At One Medical, we’re using this technology not to cut corners, but to cut through the noise—so we can focus more fully on your needs, your story, and your wellness journey.

If you have questions about any tools we use—or just want to talk through how tech fits into your care—any off our providers and staff would be glad to have that conversation during your next visit.