Data from a 2023 AMA survey involving 1,081 physicians showed that nearly two-thirds see benefits of AI in healthcare. AI can help reduce clerical tasks, improve diagnostic accuracy, speed up care coordination, and improve clinical results. Despite this, only 38% of physicians were using AI tools during the survey, showing a gap between interest and use.
Physicians had mixed feelings: 41% were both excited about AI’s possibilities and worried about its risks. Common concerns were that AI might harm patient-physician relationships and patient privacy—39% and 41% of doctors mentioned these worries. These concerns show the need for AI to support, not replace, doctors’ judgment and to protect trust and contact between patients and doctors.
AMA President Dr. Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH said, “patients need to know there is a human being on the other end helping guide their course of care.” This means AI should not make decisions alone but act only with human control.
One big factor in how doctors accept AI is clear and steady rules. Doctors want proof that AI tools are safe, work well, and are used in a fair way. The AMA made rules that say AI should be designed and used in an ethical, fair, responsible, and clear way.
Transparency means giving clear details about how AI tools work and affect patient care decisions. For example, if AI is used to review insurance claims or approve treatments, doctors and patients should know about it. The AMA wants data on how often AI approves or denies claims to be made public so people can see if the system is fair and reliable.
The AMA also says AI decisions should always have a point where a real doctor reviews them. AI advice or results should not be final without a healthcare professional checking them. This keeps care focused on the patient and makes sure the AI does not overlook special patient needs.
Regulatory groups should also create clear ways to pay doctors for using AI tools that help patient care or save time. Doctors may be worried to use new technology if they don’t know how payment works or who is responsible if something goes wrong. Limits on doctor liability for AI mistakes can help reduce these worries. Together, these rules help build doctors’ trust by making AI use safe and accountable.
Even with rules, doctors’ confidence in AI depends on knowledge and hands-on experience. The AMA says training in AI basics is very important for doctors and their teams. Without knowing how AI works, its strengths, limits, and how it should be used, doctors might be unsure or not ready to use AI in their daily work.
Surveys show doctors think AI can help most with better diagnosis (72%), better work efficiency (69%), and better patient results (61%). But to reach these benefits, doctors and staff need education programs that teach them how to check AI results carefully and use them safely.
The AMA has made AI teaching modules for doctors and students. These cover AI basics, how AI works, ethics, and how to understand AI results in clinics. Medical offices can use these trainings so staff knows when to trust AI and when to rely on their own judgment.
Education also helps doctors stay updated on new AI technologies and changes in rules. This helps new AI tools get adopted and paid for. Office managers and IT staff should support ongoing education so AI fits smoothly into the workplace.
Doctors often worry about legal risks from using AI. They fear being blamed for errors caused by automated systems beyond their control. This fear can stop them from trying AI.
Policymakers and health groups should make clear rules that protect doctors but also keep patients safe. Limits on liability should explain when doctors can trust AI results and when they must step in. Liability rules should help doctors watch AI carefully without punishing them for tech problems.
Clear liability rules can reduce doctors’ stress and encourage safe AI use. This helps build trust that AI helps doctors, not creates problems.
Making AI for healthcare is not just a tech job; it is a clinical one too. It is important to have doctors join in the design, testing, and review of AI tools. This helps make sure AI meets real doctor and patient needs and follows ethical rules.
The AMA supports teamwork where doctors, regulators, and AI developers work closely. This helps create AI that fits with doctor workflows and centers on patient care. It also helps spot and fix bias or errors that could hurt fairness. The AMA asks developers to think about fairness from the start.
AI makers should also keep watching their tools after release and allow doctors to report problems or side effects. This feedback helps keep trust and better use.
Medical office managers and IT staff should pick or ask for AI made with doctor input. This makes AI fit daily healthcare better and helps doctors accept it more.
AI can help medical offices by automating workflows. It can reduce tasks that take up much doctor time but don’t involve patient care.
In the AMA survey, 54% of doctors wanted AI to help with paperwork like billing codes, medical charts, and visit notes. 48% liked AI automating insurance approvals. 43% approved AI-created discharge and care instructions.
Offices should also think about AI for front-office phone tasks, like answering calls and scheduling. Some companies focus on AI that handles patient calls and appointment requests. These systems reduce work for reception staff and lower mistakes or delays.
Using AI in these ways helps practices:
For busy U.S. medical offices, using AI for front-office tasks fits well with the goal of lowering clerical work, as many doctors support.
To build doctors’ trust and skill with healthcare AI, these strategies are important:
Medical offices in the U.S. should use policies and partnerships based on these points. This will help them handle changes in healthcare AI and make sure new tools support doctors instead of making their work harder.
Nearly two-thirds of physicians surveyed see advantages in using AI in healthcare, particularly in reducing administrative burdens and improving diagnostics, but many remain cautiously optimistic, balancing enthusiasm with concern about patient relationships and privacy.
Transparency is critical to ensure ethical, equitable, and responsible use of AI. It includes disclosing AI system use in insurance decisions, providing approval and denial statistics, and enabling human clinical judgment to prevent automated systems from overriding individual patient needs.
Human review is essential at specified points in AI-influenced decision processes to maintain clinical judgment, protect patient care quality, and uphold the therapeutic patient-physician relationship.
About 39% of physicians worry AI may adversely affect the patient-physician relationship, while 41% raise concerns about patient privacy, highlighting the need to carefully integrate AI without compromising trust and confidentiality.
Trust can be built through clear regulatory guidance on safety, pathways for reimbursement of valuable AI tools, limiting physician liability, collaborative development between regulators and AI creators, and transparent information about AI performance and decision-making.
Physicians see AI as most helpful in enhancing diagnostic ability (72%), improving work efficiency (69%), and clinical outcomes (61%). Other notable areas include care coordination, patient convenience, and safety.
AI is particularly well received in tasks such as documentation of billing codes and medical notes (54%), automating insurance prior authorizations (48%), and creating discharge instructions, care plans, and progress notes (43%).
The AMA advocates for AI development that is ethical, equitable, responsible, and transparent, incorporating an equity lens from initial design stages to ensure fair treatment across patient populations.
Post-market surveillance by developers is crucial to continuously assess safety, performance, and equity. Data transparency allows users and purchasers to evaluate AI effectiveness and report issues to maintain trust.
Foundational knowledge enables clinicians to effectively engage with AI tools, ensuring informed use and collaboration in AI development. The AMA offers an educational series, including modules on AI introduction and methodologies, to build this competence.
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