Integrating AI Into Everyday Rheumatology Practice, with Alvin Wells, MD, PhD, and Orrin Troum, MD

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic concept in rheumatology—it is increasingly embedded in everyday clinical workflows. At the 2026 Rheumatology Winter Clinical Symposium, held in Maui, Hawaii, on February 11–14, Alvin Wells, MD, PhD, and Orrin Troum, MD, presented a forward-looking session on how AI is being integrated into rheumatology practice, building on years of experience with digital health tools that began well before the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated adoption.

Troum is a clinical professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and chief of rheumatology and Ddrector of clinical rheumatology research at Providence Healthcare System in Santa Monica, California. Wells serves as director of the rheumatology department at American Medical Group in Destin, Florida, and as an adjunct assistant professor at the Duke University Medical Center.

In an interview with RheumatologyLive, both Wells and Troum emphasized that AI’s growth in healthcare has been evolutionary rather than abrupt. Long before the pandemic, virtual medicine and telehealth were already being used to bridge gaps in rheumatology access, an especially critical need given workforce shortages and the geographic distance many patients face when seeking specialty care. COVID-19 transformed virtual visits from an option into a necessity, normalizing remote interaction and setting the stage for broader technological integration.

Wells and Troum went over administrative uses of AI that have become standard practice. One of the clearest examples is the AI-powered medical scribe. Instead of diverting attention to typing into an electronic health record, clinicians can maintain eye contact and engage directly with patients while an AI system transcribes and structures the encounter. This shift not only improves efficiency but also enhances the patient experience.

Beyond documentation, AI tools are being used to draft letters of medical necessity, generate work or school excuse notes, and automate other time-intensive communications. Tasks that once consumed valuable clinical minutes can now be completed in seconds.

While AI’s role in diagnosis and treatment optimization continues to evolve, its immediate impact in rheumatology practice is already tangible. In this interview, Wells and Troum outlined how leveraging technology thoughtfully can improve efficiency, expand access, and ultimately allow rheumatologists to spend more time where it matters most: with their patients.

“We want to learn how to work smarter and not harder. So we're using these AI [tools] to do a lot of different things, like letters of medical necessity,” Wells said.

“[In] healthcare, it's critical because our time is best spent with the patient, interacting, diagnosing, as opposed to typing or handwriting,” Troum said.

Reference

Wells A, Troum O. Technology in Rheumatology: the Future is now. Presented at: RWCS 2026, held February 11-14 in Maui, Hawaii.