Original Post | September 7, 2025 by Clarice Glote MS OTR/L
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic buzzword. It’s here, and it’s shaping healthcare in real time. From Google searches to documentation tools built into EMRs, AI is becoming part of how clinicians work every day.
For occupational therapy practitioners, this raises an important question: is AI a helpful tool or a threat to our professional judgment?
The reality is somewhere in the middle. AI can be a powerful way to save time, brainstorm interventions, and simplify documentation. But it also comes with serious risks, especially when it comes to HIPAA, bias, and prior authorization. Most importantly, no matter how advanced it gets, AI cannot replace your clinical reasoning.
What Is Artificial Intelligence, Really?
Artificial intelligence is simply the use of algorithms to mimic human thinking. When you ask Siri for directions or when your email suggests a sentence, you’re already using AI. Generative AI models, like ChatGPT, take this further by predicting human-like text based on patterns.
But here’s the catch: AI does not think, feel, or understand. It can sound convincing, but it is only generating the most statistically likely response. That means it can be helpful for drafting notes or generating ideas, but it is not capable of true clinical reasoning.
How AI Is Being Used in Healthcare
AI is already baked into many corners of healthcare, often without us noticing:
- Documentation support: Drafting notes, filling templates, scanning free text.
- Patient education: Creating handouts, home exercise programs, or care plan summaries.
- Workflow automation: Scheduling, reminders, billing support.
- Data analytics: Spotting trends across large data sets (e.g., CMS outcomes).
- Prior authorization: Reviewing requests and clinical documentation for coverage.
- Advocacy & admin work: Drafting letters, summarizing policies, writing one-pagers.
For OTPs running businesses, AI also sneaks in via email drafting, social media content, and productivity tools.
Benefits of AI for Occupational Therapy
When used carefully, AI can reduce busywork and give therapists more time to focus on patients. It can…
- Save time on repetitive documentation.
- Brainstorm interventions (e.g., “give me 10 fine motor activities for a 4-year-old who loves dinosaurs”).
- Summarize dense material into something more understandable or usable with patients or family.
- Streamline advocacy work such as letters of medical necessity, letters to your legislators, or informational materials.
- Support creativity by giving you a starting point to brainstorm and adapt.
In this way, AI can enhance occupational therapy practice. It is best seen as a supportive tool, like a calculator for documentation and brainstorming, rather than a replacement for the skills that make OT unique.
The Risks Every OTP Should Know About AI
AI in healthcare comes with significant limitations. Before you hand over your SOAP notes to a chatbot, keep these in mind:
- HIPAA violations: Most chatbots are not HIPAA compliant. Typing patient info into ChatGPT = violation. Even “anonymized” details can still identify a patient – so proceed with caution when using any kind of specifics
- Hallucinations: AI often makes stuff up, from journal articles to interventions you didn’t actually provide. It may generate text that looks professional but is inaccurate, repetitive, or simply false. (Hello liability issues!)
- Bias: Models are trained on human data, which means they inherit our biases. This can perpetuate inequities in care.
- Denials in prior authorization: AI systems used by insurers can nitpick documentation, sometimes denying care because you mentioned an uncovered service (even if you didn’t bill for it).
While some companies claim it helps speed up approvals, reports suggest it is often being used to deny care. This creates new pressure on clinicians to write documentation strategically, sometimes at the expense of accuracy or recording all elements of a session.
AI Cannot Replace Clinical Judgment
The biggest fear among practitioners is that AI could replace clinical reasoning. But the truth is, AI cannot replicate the subtle observations, empathy, and adaptability that occupational therapy requires. A chatbot may imitate the structure of an OT note, but it cannot interpret the meaning behind a client’s choices or adjust a treatment plan in real time.
AI is like an Elvis impersonator. An impersonator can mimic the look and sound of Elvis, but you know they aren’t the real deal.
Similarly, no chatbot can replicate the nuances of your clinical reasoning, empathy, and ability to pivot in real time with a patient. Embrace your ability to pursue higher levels of skill and use of the full scope of your education!
AI can:
- Draft notes.
- Generate intervention ideas.
- Highlight trends.
But it cannot:
- Notice subtle changes in a client’s performance.
- Interpret meaning behind occupational choices.
- Use therapeutic use of self.
In short: AI enhances, but it doesn’t replace.
Moving Forward with AI in OT and Healthcare
AI isn’t going away. Just like when we transitioned from paper charts to EMRs, this technology will reshape how we document, advocate, and deliver care. Our job is to:
- Stay critical: Don’t blindly copy-paste. Always read and edit.
- Level up: Provide care that clearly requires human expertise.
- Use responsibly: Keep HIPAA and ethics front of mind.
- Stay curious: Look for ways AI can expand creativity rather than shrink it.
If we do this right, AI becomes a tool to amplify OT—not erase it.
