[Re: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/cervical-cancer-38-improving-medical-re... ]
Regarding medical records in general and electronic medical records (and use of AI with them) specifically, STAT News today highlights a study, "AI depends on medical records that don’t always tell the full truth about women", and makes an interesting point about medical records. Medical records represent the patient's health history through the lens of the recording physician, including the physician's assumptions and biases, and may include misdiagnoses along the way. https://www.statnews.com/2026/11/06/women-medical-records-artificial-int... (The article is under access control so I can't access the whole article.)
From the Stat News email about the article: "Many of the women described trust-breaking encounters with health care providers and misdiagnoses, but these moments were rarely documented. The authors point to the story of a woman who lived with debilitating pelvic pain for more than a decade as a poignant example. Doctors at first dismissed her pain as related to obesity, pivoting to mental health after she lost weight. Notably, the turning point only came after her husband joined her for an appointment, and she was ultimately diagnosed with endometriosis. Her medical records chronicle this diagnostic odyssey, but they don’t capture the frustration and disillusionment she experienced after years of having her pain downplayed. Hirsch and Silva write that such stories raise concerns about the use of AI to advance women’s health.
'These tools are only as good as the data in the medical record,' they write. 'If a woman’s symptoms are filtered through assumptions about her weight or mental health, and the true story of her pain is omitted, AI may learn and reproduce how the woman is framed in the record.'"
Best wishes,
Margaret
Margaret Winker, MD
eLearning Program Director
Trustee
World Association of Medical Editors
***
wame.org
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HIFA profile: Margaret Winker is Trustee and Past President of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and Director of the WAME eLearning Program. She is based in the US. Professional interests: WAME is a global association of editors of peer-reviewed medical journals who seek to foster cooperation and communication among editors, improve editorial standards, promote professionalism in medical editing through education, self-criticism, and self-regulation, and encourage research on the principles and practice of medical editing. margaretwinker AT gmail.com