The number of doctors using AI tools almost doubled from 38% in 2023 to 66% in 2024, according to surveys by the AMA. This fast increase is unusual in healthcare because new technology is often adopted slowly due to patient safety and rules. Along with more use, the number of doctors who feel positive about AI also went up from 30% in 2023 to 35% in 2024. More doctors now feel ready and hopeful about using AI in their daily work.
About 68% of doctors see some benefit of AI in patient care in 2024, which is up from 63% the year before. These numbers show that doctors are starting to use AI as a helpful tool rather than just an experiment.
One reason doctors like AI more is because it can help with paperwork. Doctors spend a lot of time on billing codes, medical charts, notes, discharge instructions, care plans, and answering patient messages. These tasks take time and can make doctors tired and stressed. This also makes it hard to find enough doctors to work.
The AMA survey showed that 57% of doctors think AI automation is the best chance to improve their work. AI can help by automating data entry and making communication easier without lowering the quality of care. Doctors said AI helps most with billing and coding (80%), writing discharge instructions (72%), handling insurance approvals (71%), and summarizing medical charts (69%).
Automating these tasks helps practice managers and IT staff because doctors have more time for patients. This is important in the U.S. where rules and billing are complicated and can add work.
One AI tool gaining use is called ambient AI scribes. These use speech recognition and natural language processing (NLP) to write down and summarize doctor visits as they happen. This lowers the time doctors spend writing notes.
For example, in big health systems like The Permanente Medical Group, ambient AI scribes helped doctors save about one hour a day on documentation. At the Hattiesburg Clinic, this technology cut back on after-hours paperwork, sometimes called “pajama time,” and made doctors happier by 13% to 17%. When doctors feel better, it helps both the staff and the money side of running a clinic or hospital.
For managers and IT staff, using AI scribes means they have to check that the software works well, train users, and follow privacy laws. But the gains in productivity can be big.
AI-driven workflow automation is also growing. Health systems like Geisinger Health System use more than 110 AI automations. These handle tasks such as sending admission alerts and managing appointment cancellations. These systems take care of repetitive jobs that use staff time and can slow down patient care.
Ochsner Health uses AI to sort and prioritize patient messages. This helps doctors and nurses answer urgent messages faster and work better as a team.
For healthcare leaders, AI workflow automation means less time on clerical work and more time on caring for patients. It also lowers mistakes from manual entry or misunderstandings.
By 2024, most doctors expected to use AI tools in their daily workflows soon. Especially in documentation and communication tasks. Clinics need to get ready to add these tools into Electronic Health Records (EHR) without causing problems.
Natural Language Processing (NLP) helps AI understand human language. It lets computers read and take out important info from notes that are not organized. Then, it creates structured summaries to use.
NLP is used to automate clinical documents such as referral letters, discharge summaries, and visit notes. Tools like Microsoft’s Dragon Copilot and Heidi Health help doctors by reducing the work of writing and transcribing.
Using NLP not only makes notes faster but also improves accuracy and completeness. Accurate medical records are key for care continuity, billing, coding, and following laws like HIPAA.
Doctors who use NLP tools experience less mental stress and fewer mistakes. These tools also help teams work better together. As NLP gets better, it may help doctors diagnose and plan treatment right from the data.
With AI use rising fast among doctors, healthcare leaders must plan carefully. Administrators should choose AI tools that help reduce paperwork and fit their providers’ needs.
IT managers also should consider vendor reputation, compatibility, ease of use, patient data handling, and reliable systems when bringing in AI.
Doctors see AI helping more than just paperwork. About 72% think AI can help with diagnostic support, 62% with better clinical results, and 59% with coordinating care.
New AI tools include ones that work like expert reviewers. For example, Google’s DeepMind Health helps detect eye disease. AI-powered stethoscopes can quickly find heart problems. These tools may change how doctors diagnose and treat patients.
But doctors still worry about how transparent AI is, possible bias, if it is clinically tested, and legal responsibility. The AMA has started guidelines and resources to help doctors use AI safely and ethically.
In U.S. healthcare, patient safety and regulatory rules are very important. For AI adoption to grow, tools must fit with clinical standards and payment policies.
The AMA is working on updates like new billing codes for AI services and its Center for Digital Health and AI, set up in 2025. These steps aim to make sure AI helps both patients and providers while keeping responsibility clear.
Some companies like Simbo AI show how AI can help in healthcare offices. By automating phone answering, which often adds to the workload, Simbo AI helps clinics handle patient calls better. This reduces missed appointments and helps communication flow easier.
Using AI for phone answering can cut down office tasks and free staff to do more important work. Doctors prefer to have routine calls handled by AI since front-office work can add to their overall load.
Physicians primarily hope AI will help reduce administrative burdens, which add significant hours to their workday, thereby alleviating stress and burnout.
57% of physicians surveyed identified automation to address administrative burdens as the biggest opportunity for AI in healthcare.
Physician enthusiasm increased from 30% in 2023 to 35% in 2024, indicating growing optimism about AI’s benefits in healthcare.
Physicians believe AI can help improve work efficiency (75%), reduce stress and burnout (54%), and decrease cognitive overload (48%), all vital factors contributing to physician well-being.
Top relevant AI uses include handling billing codes, medical charts, or visit notes (80%), creating discharge instructions and care plans (72%), and generating draft responses to patient portal messages (57%).
Health systems like Geisinger and Ochsner use AI to automate tasks such as appointment notifications, message prioritization, and email scanning to free physicians’ time for patient care.
Ambient AI scribes have saved physicians approximately one hour per day by transcribing and summarizing patient encounters, significantly reducing keyboard time and post-work documentation.
At the Hattiesburg Clinic, AI adoption reduced documentation stress and after-hours work, leading to a 13-17% boost in physician job satisfaction during pilot programs.
The AMA advocates for healthcare AI oversight, transparency, generative AI policies, physician liability clarity, data privacy, cybersecurity, and ethical payer use of AI decision-making systems.
Physicians also see AI helping in diagnostics (72%), clinical outcomes (62%), care coordination (59%), patient convenience (57%), patient safety (56%), and resource allocation (56%).
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