A new study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows that an AI (artificial intelligence) tool can help doctors find patients who may be at risk of misusing opioids. It also helps lower the chances that these patients return to the hospital soon after being discharged.
The AI tool looks at a patient’s electronic health record, including doctor notes and medical history. If it finds signs of opioid misuse, it alerts the doctor and suggests getting help from an addiction specialist or offering treatment for withdrawal symptoms.
Dr. Majid Afshar, the lead researcher and a professor at UW-Madison, said the tool is especially useful for doctors who don’t often deal with addiction directly. While emergency room doctors may be used to treating overdoses, many patients with opioid problems come to the hospital for other reasons—like infections, pneumonia, asthma, or broken bones. These issues may hide the real cause, which is often drug use.
Afshar said if doctors also treat the underlying addiction, patients do better and hospitals save money.
In a clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), patients flagged by the AI tool and given addiction care were 47% less likely to return to the hospital within 30 days compared to patients from past years who got care only when a doctor noticed the problem.
The study also found that AI prompts usually happened later during the hospital stay, closer to when the patient was being discharged. This helped doctors think about extra care, like harm-reduction services, or support outside the hospital.
Afshar noted that the AI tool also found more patients from underserved groups—such as those without insurance or on Medicaid—who often have high readmission rates.
The AI tool is still being used at UW Health. Afshar believes this is just the beginning. In the future, AI could help doctors diagnose opioid use disorder and decide on treatment plans—especially in places with fewer resources.
However, future research depends on funding. Some government budget cuts could make it harder to continue studies like this. Afshar said it’s important to keep funding science and research to make sure new tools like AI are used in the best way for patients.
“AI is powerful,” he said. “But we need science and evidence to use it the right way.”
Source: wpr
