According to Giovanni Guido Cerri, in the era of digital health, AI tools are already responsible for increasing the speed and accuracy of various diagnoses, but they cannot replace the evaluation of exams by doctors

In an interview with Jornal da USP in Ar 1st Edition, Professor Giovanni Guido Cerri, president of the Innovation Council and the Radiology Institute of the Hospital das Clínicas, Faculty of Medicine, USP (FMUSP), elucidates the main points involving the balance between innovation and humanism in digital medicine.

For him, over the last two decades, technology has played a key role in enabling man to live longer and better. But, in some cases, it placed itself above the relationship existing in human contact, since the “training of the doctor became a very technical training and the humanistic aspects, the important doctor-patient relationship, were often left aside”.

For example, Artificial Intelligence algorithms help doctors make a more accurate diagnosis and also improve the productivity of the professional in question. On the one hand, this sets up a scenario of alliance between the doctor and the machine, resulting in greater patient safety. On the other hand, Cerri points out that this may be subject to regulatory standards, amplifying a series of problems, prejudices and other biases.

Doctor patient relationship

The insertion of technological tools has contributed in several ways to the advancement of medicine. “With a great acceleration of technology, we cannot forget the important doctor-patient relationship that is built. Often, a relationship of trust is necessary so that the treatment can be carried out with the expected effectiveness”, comments the professor.

This scenario arises with the pandemic, a period in which telemedicine gave rise to a new type of relationship that, for Cerri, needs adequate ethics for teleconsultations, in order to avoid disorderly growth. Finally, the use of technology must benefit the patient, without harming the relationship between him and the doctor, taking care that this technological incorporation is used in an adequate and safe way: “With this security, we have to try to give the patient in question this balance between human and machine”.

Listen to the full interview at: https://jornal.usp.br/atualidades/adicao-da-tecnologia-a-medicina-nao-pode-substituir-a-relacao-entre-medico-e-paciente/e