Are digital and AI screening tools ready for adoption?

New research shows that while digital health tools can advance and support disease screening in many cases, a patient-centered approach, adequate team support, well-designed workflows, and clinician judgment are key to effective implementation.

The studies, published in the Annals of Family Medicine, examined the following:

• Use of Bluetooth headphones paired with digital tablets to screen for hearing loss,
• A digital stethoscope and single-lead electrocardiogram feeding data into an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to screen for cardiomyopathy,
• Digital cognitive assessments to screen for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Researchers found that while the tools were often able to identify the conditions, they had several limitations. Many patients weren’t able to successfully complete the hearing and dementia screenings, false-positive rates were higher in certain patient cohorts for the cardiomyopathy screening, and follow-up rates were low for those referred to a specialist after screening positive for hearing impairment.

In a related editorial, the authors noted that “In a time where news headlines tout the inevitability of algorithms replacing clinicians, the reality demonstrated by these examples indicates that digital tools work best when they augment rather than replace clinicians.”¹

Their authors’ takeaways also included the following:

• The use of digital health screening tools should be tailored to patients’ needs — their specific clinical needs as well as their culture, health beliefs, and health literacy.
• Technology solutions should support the clinical teams who have been doing this work for decades.
• How technology is implemented is just as important as what technology is implemented. Practices should pursue purposeful but flexible implementation that includes engaging stakeholders, dedicating resources, educating clinicians and patients, and designing good workflows that consider the whole patient and what will happen next.
• Given the hype surrounding “magical-sounding” AI tools, technology in medicine risks becoming “a solution in search of a problem.” With time already limited in primary care, clinicians should understand the limitations of these tools and deploy them accordingly.

1. Harris B, Kochendorfer K, Hasnain M, Jimbo M. Information technology in primary care screenings: ready for prime time? Ann Fam Med. 2025;23:online.

— Andy Marso, senior editor of FPM

Posted on May 2, 2025 by FPM Editors