Evaluating the utility of ChatGPT to convert clinic letters into patient friendly language

Communication with patients in language they understand leads to greater comprehension of treatment and diagnoses but can be time consuming for clinicians. Here we sought to investigate the utility of ChatGPT to translate clinic letters into language patients understood, without loss of clinical information. Twenty-three letters from a range of specialities were translated, resulting in no loss of clinical information. Subjective analysis from patient representatives revealed significantly increased understanding of treatment and diagnoses, increased satisfaction, and a significant decrease in the requirement to seek medical assistance in understanding their content when compared to original letters written to clinicians. Overall, we conclude that ChatGPT can be used to translate clinic letters into patient friendly language, and that these letters are preferred by patients.