Yesterday, I had the privilege of addressing AHIP’s 2024 Consumer Experience & Digital Health Forum in Nashville, where more than 500 healthcare leaders, policymakers and innovators gathered to explore the future of American medicine.
Throughout the second day of the conference, presentations focused on artificial intelligence, data analytics and interoperability—three critical components that will drive the next wave of innovation in healthcare.
In my closing keynote session, “The AI Revolution in Medicine: What the Future Holds,” I joined Jeanette Thornton, AHIP’s Executive Vice President of Policy & Strategy, to discuss the impact of generative AI on diagnostics, treatment personalization and patient outcomes.
Our discussion highlighted the rapidly evolving capabilities of tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. These are not the narrow or rule-based AI technologies of yesterday, limited to pattern recognition or simple data analysis. Today’s generative AI has access to a near-totality of medical information and, therefore, can assist with the management of nearly all medical problems.
‘ChatGPT, MD’ Is Here: What It Means For Medicine
Jeanette opened our discussion by asking about my newest book, ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine, which debuted as a top new release on Amazon. Available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook formats, all profits benefit Doctors Without Borders.
To begin, she posed this question: “Why did you decide to co-author a book with ChatGPT?”
I explained that this decision wasn’t about novelty or trendiness—it was a statement about the potential of generative AI to reshape our world, and healthcare especially.
In my previous books, Mistreated and Uncaring, I highlighted the core problems of American medicine: a broken system and a deeply ingrained culture resistant to change. While those books sparked important conversations and catalyzed meaningful discussions, the journey toward systemic and cultural transformation requires more than words or ideas. To make the leap, we also needed the right tools.
With the release of ChatGPT on November 30, 2022, the medical profession acquired what it had long lacked: a technology capable of revolutionizing American healthcare for the betterment of both the providers and recipients of medical care.
I hoped that by co-authoring ChatGPT, MD with this emerging technology, I could explore its potential in greater depth and demonstrate its abilities.
In a practical sense, my collaboration with ChatGPT mirrored how I might work with a medical student or resident on a research paper. I began by training ChatGPT on over 1.2 million words I had written in books, articles and other communications. We exchanged drafts and continually refined our exploration of how generative AI can empower patients and improve health outcomes. I believe the result was better than either of us could achieve alone.
Practical Applications Of Generative AI In Medicine
Next, Jeanette asked about AI’s broader potential in medicine, particularly its role in treating chronic diseases.
I highlighted the many ways that generative AI can transform the management of medical problems, including diabetes, heart failure and hypertension—diseases that are responsible for 30-50% of the heart attacks, strokes, cancers and kidney failures patients experience in the United States annually, according to CDC data. By properly managing these conditions, we would save hundreds of thousands of lives each year and make healthcare affordable for our nation.
In the book, ChatGPT and I illustrate how AI, when connected to wearable devices and home-health monitors, can continuously update patients on their clinical status. Based on this information, doctors could rapidly and easily adjust medications without requiring an office visit. This level of personalized care would not only save lives but also reduce medical costs significantly.
However, I cautioned the audience that AI alone won’t be enough. Its full potential to elevate clinical outcomes won’t be realized until we shift away from medicine’s fee-for-service payment model that rewards “doing more” (regardless of whether it adds any value) to one that focuses on ways to maximize health and avoid life-threatening medical problems before they arise.
A capitated model, where providers are paid based on clinical outcomes rather than merely services provided, paired with broad application of generative AI in both the doctor’s office and in patients’ homes, is the most effective way forward. The combination is the best route to the value-based care model I and many other healthcare leaders have long advocated.
At the AHIP forum, I urged the nation’s largest insurance companies to lead the charge, shifting payments from fee-for-service to capitation and working with clinicians to apply GenAI technology for the betterment of patients. By doing so, I’m optimistic that insurers can drive higher-quality medical care, improve health outcomes and eliminate the need for burdensome prior authorization requirements.
AHIP’s Leadership In Shaping The Future
The focus on AI, data analytics and interoperability at this year’s forum reflects AHIP’s forward-thinking leadership in the health insurance sector. As the national association for healthcare coverage, AHIP is positioned to successfully guide the industry through this digital transformation. By bringing together diverse stakeholders, including health systems, insurers and technology innovators, AHIP fosters the collaboration needed to ensure that the benefits of AI are distributed equitably across the healthcare system.
I want to congratulate AHIP for organizing such a transformative event and I want to thank those responsible for making this forum happen, including Stacy Laufer Card, Jasmine Phiri, Nicole Garratt, Jeanette Thornton and the entire AHIP team.
Ultimately, the insights shared at this forum will help shape the future of medicine, and together, we can harness the power of AI to finally deliver the value-based care that Americans need, deserve and have long-desired.
* * *
Dr. Robert Pearl is the former CEO of The Permanente Medical Group, the nation’s largest physician group. He’s a Forbes contributor, bestselling author, Stanford University professor, and host of two healthcare podcasts. Check out Pearl’s newest book, ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine with all profits going to Doctors Without Borders.
