The Growing Sentiment Towards AI among Physicians: Analyzing Trends and the Increasing Adoption of AI Technologies in Medicine

Artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly become part of the United States healthcare system. In recent years, doctors have started using AI tools more, especially for clinical and office tasks. For medical practice managers, owners, and IT staff, knowing how AI changes workflows and doctors’ opinions is important to make smart choices about technology.

This article looks at how doctors are accepting AI, trends in AI use, and how AI helps automate work in clinical and office tasks. It shows how AI tools—like helping with patient interactions or reducing office work—are becoming common in daily medical practice in the U.S.

AI Adoption in Medicine: Current Trends

According to surveys from the American Medical Association (AMA) in 2023 and 2024, many more doctors are now using AI. The number of doctors saying they use AI tools rose from 38% in 2023 to 66% in 2024. This means that over two-thirds of doctors use AI in their clinical or office work.

Also, 68% of doctors said they saw some benefits from using AI in their daily work. This shows that AI use is moving from early testing to regular, useful use. Many doctors think of AI as a tool that helps, not replaces, them. This idea means AI helps doctors make decisions and improve care, but doesn’t replace their knowledge.

Still, doctors and healthcare leaders have concerns about AI. These include keeping data private, who is responsible if AI causes problems, how AI makes decisions, proof that AI is accurate, and government rules. Almost half of doctors think stronger government rules are needed to safely use AI, especially with AI-based medical devices.

Medical managers and IT teams must take these worries seriously when setting up AI. They need to work with doctors to avoid disrupting workflows and to keep patients safe.

Physician Perspectives and Experience with AI

Doctors’ opinions on AI differ depending on their specialty, how long they have worked, age, and where they live. Research shows younger doctors and those more familiar with AI accept it more. Older or more experienced doctors are hopeful but want clearer rules and proof before fully trusting AI.

For example, in gastroenterology, a study from Saudi Arabia with over 600 doctors showed mixed feelings. Some were worried about AI replacing doctors. They wanted to understand better how AI would fit in their work. This shows that accepting AI is not the same for everyone. It depends on personal and professional views and needs.

Doctors like Dr. Jesse M. Ehrenfeld from the AMA talk about the need to manage risks like data privacy and legal issues. He also sees AI helping reduce burnout by taking on boring and repetitive tasks. This fits with the AMA’s idea of “augmented intelligence,” meaning AI tools made in an ethical way that support doctors and patients.

AI’s Role in Healthcare Workflow Automation

Healthcare has long struggled with office work that takes up doctors’ time and energy. Using AI to automate some of these tasks can help. AI is now common in hospital and clinic front offices, in medical notes, scheduling appointments, and patient communication.

Companies like Simbo AI are working on front-office phone automation with AI answering systems. These can handle basic patient questions, appointment requests, prescription refill calls, and simple triage. By doing this, Simbo AI helps office staff focus on urgent or complex patient care instead of answering repeated phone calls.

This kind of automation helps with the problem of office burnout many healthcare workers report. The AMA finds that using AI to simplify tasks makes clinics more efficient. This allows doctors to spend more time with patients and less on paperwork or phone calls. For managers and IT staff, using AI communication systems can lower staff costs and make patients happier by shortening wait times on calls and giving faster answers.

Beyond the front office, AI is also used in electronic health record (EHR) systems to help with notes and clinical decisions. For example, UTHealth Houston added AI into its Epic EHR. This lets doctors use natural language questions to quickly get patient data and AI-assisted patient messaging. This reduces time spent entering data and searching records, which is a big cause of burnout for doctors.

AI and Clinical Decision Support

AI helps more than just office tasks. Many doctors agree that AI can improve diagnosis accuracy and predict patient outcomes using large amounts of data. For instance, AI can predict health changes, chances of missed appointments, and support tailored treatment plans.

At McGovern Medical School, research is ongoing to develop tools that help doctors find diseases early and identify risks. One example is AI-powered face analysis that spots inherited diseases early. This shows how AI can add to what doctors already do.

Ethics and how AI is made and used are important for healthcare groups. Doctors want to know how AI makes its decisions. They also want clear rules about AI’s limits to make sure people always supervise clinical choices. Keeping this balance is key to maintaining trust and good care.

AI’s Impact on Medical Education

AI’s growing use in healthcare also affects how doctors are trained. The AMA promotes adding AI training in medical school to get future healthcare workers ready to use AI tools. This includes teaching about what AI can and can’t do, ethical use, and understanding rules.

For example, at UTHealth Houston, AI education will be a regular part of the curriculum starting fall 2024. Teachers see the importance of preparing students to use AI tools responsibly in patient care. As AI grows in clinical and office work, teaching AI skills to new doctors and staff is important for successful use.

Practical Considerations for Medical Practice Administrators and IT Managers

For those running medical practices in the U.S., using AI requires careful planning, such as:

• Physician and Staff Engagement: Getting doctors and office staff involved helps make AI tools fit real needs, answers concerns, and builds support. Nurses’ views are important since they use these tools often and want AI that works with their daily tasks.
• Compliance and Ethics: Knowing federal and state laws about AI, data privacy, and responsibility is key. Managers must make sure AI follows HIPAA rules and new oversight standards.
• Integration with Existing Systems: AI tools should work well with current EHR and practice management software to avoid work problems.
• Training and Education: Providing ongoing education about how AI tools work, their limits, and ethics helps keep use safe.
• Assessing Evidence and Effectiveness: Regularly checking AI results with clinical proof helps confirm that tools make work better and improve patient care.

Simbo AI’s front-office automation shows how targeting specific office problems with AI can deliver clear benefits. By freeing office workers from routine calls and scheduling, practices gain efficiency, lower mistakes, and improve patient experience.

Addressing Ongoing Challenges

Even though AI is used more, problems still exist like:

• Transparency and Trust: Doctors want to know how AI tools work and how they create answers.
• Liability Concerns: Understanding who is responsible when AI is used for patient care decisions.
• Data Privacy and Security: Protecting private health information as AI uses large data.
• Clinical Evidence: Creating and sharing studies that prove AI tools work well and are safe.

Groups like AMA work to solve these issues by making policies for ethical and responsible AI use. They also create codes for AI services, clarify doctors’ legal responsibilities, and offer education to improve AI knowledge.

Final Thoughts for U.S. Medical Practices

AI in American healthcare is no longer just an idea—it is already happening. For medical practice managers, owners, and IT staff, knowing how doctors feel about AI and how it is used helps make better technology choices. As doctors use AI more to lower office work and aid decisions, choosing systems that focus on transparency, ethics, and usefulness lets healthcare workers improve efficiency and care quality.

Healthcare groups that teach staff, include doctors in choosing AI tools, and use workflow automation will gain the most from this technology change. Companies like Simbo AI show real benefits of using AI for front-office work, letting healthcare workers focus on what matters most: caring for patients.

As AI use grows, medical practices will keep changing policies and systems to balance progress with safety, privacy, and legal rules. This balance will shape how well AI helps the future of medicine in the United States.