“On the other side, I think that healthcare needs to start entertaining more remote options for people like surgical schedulers and office staff. Is recruitment of people looking for at-home work experiences being forced upon us? Absolutely. But if we don’t move into the 21st century and start thinking about remote workers, we’re going to suffer from a recruiting standpoint.”
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September 2022Dr. Simon: “It’s difficult to predict what staffing challenges are going to be like as the pandemic moves on. I think if the current trend of diminishing COVID severity and growing vaccination and communal immunity continues, people may feel more comfortable coming back into medical offices to work. We’ll also have to see how the use of physician extenders evolves.
“As for what can be done to prevent shortages, this is something that the Academy of Otolaryngology does very well in terms of promoting the value and safety of the entire workforce so that people feel comfortable working in otolaryngology offices. We’ve learned a lot about how to keep the practice of medicine safe, and the academy continues to work to find ways to help practices attract and retain strong employees.”
Trend: Artificial Intelligence
Dr. Gantwerker: “I consult for an AI company, and I believe we should integrate this technology as a point-of-care decision-making tool, mainly because there’s too much medical knowledge for any one person to hold. Based on the parameters and characteristics of the patient, AI can analyze patterns and make suggestions about their management and treatment, including diagnostic testing. As the experts, we can then interpret the data and make decisions at the point of care. These tools are already being implemented in dermatology and in the emergency room. In radiology, AI is being used as a triage tool to do a first-pass analysis of scans to determine whether patients are high risk and should be moved to the top of the queue.”
Dr. Couch: “It’s a fascinating area. There’s so much work in caring for people and so few otolaryngologists; if someone or something can help me get an accurate answer on an imaging test or help me with decision-making, I welcome that. I do think that people are overstating the value of it as there must always be a clinical acumen piece. So much of medicine is about this trusting relationship and an understanding of total-person care. But I think otolaryngologists will only benefit from true machine learning or AI advances.”