Generative AI can identify social determinants of health data in notes, study finds

Dive Brief:

• Generative artificial intelligence can be used to pull social determinants of health data, like housing or employment status, from clinician notes to identify patients who need additional support, according to a new study.
• Large language models trained by researchers could identify 93.8% of patients with adverse social determinants of health, while official diagnostic codes include that data in only 2% of cases.
• The finely tuned models were also less likely than OpenAI’s GPT-4 to change their determination when demographic information like race or gender was added. Algorithmic bias is a major concern for AI use in healthcare, amid fears the technology could worsen health inequities.