Patients support the idea of having AI review their screening mammograms – under certain conditions. That’s according to a new study in Radiology: Imaging Cancer that could have implications for breast imagers seeking to integrate AI into their practices.
Mammography screening has been identified as one of the most promising use cases for AI, but clinical adoption has been sluggish for reasons that range from low reimbursement to concerns about data privacy, security, algorithm bias, and transparency.
- Vendors and providers are working on solving many of the problems impeding greater AI use, but patient preference is an often overlooked factor – even as some providers are beginning to offer AI review services for which patients pay out of pocket.
To gain more insight into what patients want, researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center surveyed 518 women who got screening mammography over eight months in 2023, finding …
- 71% preferred that AI be used as a second reader along with a radiologist.
- Only 4.4% accepted standalone AI interpretation of their images.
- 74% wanted patient consent before AI review.
- If AI found an abnormality, 89% wanted a radiologist to review their case, versus 51% who wanted AI to review abnormal findings by radiologists.
- If AI missed a finding, 58% believed “everyone” should be accountable, while 15% said they would hold the AI manufacturer accountable.
Patient preference for use of AI in collaboration with radiologists tracks with other recent research.
- Patients seem to want humans to retain oversight of AI, and seem to value trust, empathy, and accountability in healthcare – values associated with providers, not machines.
The findings should also be good news for imaging services companies offering out-of-pocket AI review services.
- RadNet launched its Enhanced Breast Cancer Detection service in early 2023, and SimonMed in January debuted its Personalized Breast Cancer Detection program. Both offer AI review at a price point of about $40.
The Takeaway
The new findings should be encouraging not only for breast imagers and AI developers, but also for the imaging services companies that are banking on patients to shell out their own money for AI review. As insurance reimbursement for AI languishes, this may be the only way to move mammography AI forward in the short term.
