Hospitals from the Antwerp ZAS group, AZ Maria Middelares in Ghent (East Flanders) and Brussel University Hospital (UZ Brussel) have developed an artificial intelligence application to help patients better understand their medical reports.
The development of the AI app responds to a longstanding issue. Patients routinely receive medical reports and discharge letters written in language that is difficult or even impossible for them to understand. The new application addresses this by producing a version of each document that is devoid of jargon and written in such a way that it can be understood. When patients receive their report, they are given both the standard version and the AI-generated plain-language equivalent.
This gives patients a clearer understanding of the state of their health situation and enables them to ask more targeted questions during consultations, and to better adhere to their treatment. As an added bonus the app has privacy benefits as patients no longer need to share sensitive medical information with commercial platforms such as ChatGPT when trying to understand their medical reports.
Intended to supplement, not replace
Patients and if they wish, their families or carers, can access the plain-language versions via government health portals or a hospital patient portal. The simplified versions are not reviewed by doctors and are intended to supplement, not replace, the original medical report or direct face to face communication with a physician.
At the moment the app is being tested exclusively by ZAS hospital group patients with rheumatic and kidney conditions. In the first phase, the simplified reports generated by the app are available in Dutch, French and English. Additional languages and medical specialties will follow. The application has been developed with the support of the Federal Health Department.