• Stephanie Garies, Simon Liang, Karen Weyman, Noor Ramji, Mo Alhaj, and Andrew D Pinto.
• Department of Family & Community Medicine, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada sgaries@ucalgary.ca.
• Ann Fam Med. 2024 Jul 1; 22 (4): 317324317-324.

PurposeInformation about social determinants of health (SDOH) is essential for primary care clinicians in the delivery of equitable, comprehensive care, as well as for program planning and resource allocation. SDOH are rarely captured consistently in clinical settings, however. Artificial intelligence (AI) could potentially fill these data gaps, but it needs to be designed collaboratively and thoughtfully. We report on a codesign process with primary care clinicians to understand how an AI tool could be developed, implemented, and used in practice.MethodsWe conducted semistructured, 50-minute workshops with a large urban family health team in Toronto, Ontario, Canada asking their feedback on a proposed AI-based tool used to derive patient SDOH from electronic health record data. An inductive thematic analysis was used to describe participants' perspectives regarding the implementation and use of the proposed tool.ResultsFifteen participants contributed across 4 workshops. Most patient SDOH information was not available or was difficult to find in their electronic health record. Discussions focused on 3 areas related to the implementation and use of an AI tool to derive social data: people, process, and technology. Participants recommended starting with 1 or 2 social determinants (income and housing were suggested as priorities) and emphasized the need for adequate resources, staff, and training materials. They noted many challenges, including how to discuss the use of AI with patients and how to confirm their social needs identified by the AI tool.ConclusionsOur codesign experience provides guidance from end users on the appropriate and meaningful design and implementation of an AI-based tool for social data in primary care.© 2024 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.

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