|  ElCiudadano.cl |  Noticias

El Ciudadano

Original article: Estudio clínico en Chile determina: “Tres de cada cuatro pacientes llegan a la consulta médica influidos por algoritmos”

«Three in Four Patients are Influenced by Algorithms Before Medical Consultations,» According to Clinical Study

Preliminary results from a clinical study presented as a research advance indicate that algorithmic mediation is already a structural factor affecting the medical-patient relationship. Final results will be submitted to The Lancet Digital Health.

Between September 2025 and January 2026, a research team gathered preliminary findings in real clinical contexts from 207 adult patients treated at the Clínica Alemana in Valdivia. This represents a research advance: the definitive analysis and complete results are still in development and will be submitted for editorial evaluation to The Lancet Digital Health.

The data was collected not from online surveys or academic simulations, but in medical consulting rooms immediately after consultations, with informed consent in ethical compliance, from patients seeking treatment for chronic illnesses, preventive assessments, and general morbidity.

The study is led by Miguel Ángel Carrasco García, physician and researcher, alongside Ana María Castillo Hinojosa (International University of Catalonia), Rodrigo Browne, Carola Neira Mellado, and Bárbara Klett (Austral University of Chile).

This advance was publicly presented in January 2026 during the international webinar «Challenges of Health Communication in Times of Misinformation, AI, and Algorithms», organized by the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, as part of the Strategic Communication in Health Diploma. The goal of the presentation was to spark academic discussion on an emerging phenomenon, rather than to provide definitive conclusions.

Preliminary Data

Even in this exploratory phase, the results reveal consistent patterns:

• 55% of patients fell into the category of disruptive algorithmic mediation. Operationally, more than half of those consulting arrive with interpretations and clinical decisions already shaped by information obtained from search engines, social media, or artificial intelligence systems, primarily using the medical consultation as an opportunity for ratification.

• 20% of the sample exhibited a pathological algorithmic health loop (LOPAS). In this group, there is a sustained shift of clinical authority towards digital sources, directly impacting therapeutic conduct. Here, algorithmic information does not complement; it organizes clinical decisions.

• Only 25% of patients maintained predominant trust in medical authority, using digital information as secondary and without relevant interference in the clinical relationship.

Taken together, these preliminary results indicate that three in four patients today come to consultations with some degree of clinically relevant algorithmic mediation.

A Structural, Not Behavioral Problem

The study does not attribute the phenomenon to «misuse» of the internet by individuals. Instead, it reveals a structural change in the sequence of healthcare attention: the initial stage of the clinical process now occurs outside the healthcare system, on algorithmic platforms that do not operate under clinical, regulatory, or ethical standards characteristic of medicine.

In practice, the physician no longer defines the initial framework of the problem. They must intervene in a narrative that has already been established, produced by systems designed to maximize interaction and engagement, rather than ensuring clinical quality.

What the System Still Does Not Measure

In Chile, neither the Ministry of Health nor regulatory agencies have incorporated systematic indicators to evaluate algorithmic mediation in healthcare, despite its potential impact on therapeutic adherence, overutilization of services, legal disputes, and institutional trust erosion.

This research advance does not propose prohibitions or simplistic solutions, but rather highlights a gap.

The healthcare system continues to operate as if the consultation begins when the patient enters the room.

Preliminary data indicate otherwise: today, the consultation begins when the patient opens their phone.

La entrada Study in Chile Reveals: «Three in Four Patients are Influenced by Algorithms Before Medical Consultations» se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.