Prompt engineering with a large language model to assist providers in responding to patient inquiries: a real-time implementation in the electronic health record.

Abstract

Background: Large language models (LLMs) can assist providers in drafting responses to patient inquiries. We examined a prompt engineering strategy to draft responses for providers in the electronic health record. The aim was to evaluate the change in usability after prompt engineering. Materials and Methods: A pre-post study over 8 months was conducted across 27 providers. The primary outcome was the provider use of LLM-generated messages from Generative Pre-Trained Transformer 4 (GPT-4) in a mixed-effects model, and the secondary outcome was provider sentiment analysis. Results: < .01). Discussion: The improvement in sentiment with prompt engineering suggests better content quality, but the initial decrease in usage highlights the need for integration with human factors design. Conclusion: Future studies should explore strategies for optimizing the integration of LLMs into the provider workflow to maximize both usability and effectiveness.