Before talking about strategies, it is important to understand how top healthcare groups see AI. The American Medical Association (AMA), which represents many U.S. doctors, uses the term “augmented intelligence” instead of artificial intelligence. This name shows that AI is meant to help and support doctors, not take their place. AI tools are made to assist with clinical decisions, reduce paperwork, and improve patient care.
The AMA supports a view where AI is created and used in honest and clear ways. This helps both doctors and patients know how AI systems work. It means being open about AI’s role in patient care and office tasks. It also involves dealing with doctor responsibility and keeping patient information private.
A big problem stopping many doctors from using AI is the lack of clear help on how to put these new tools into practice. Many AI tools exist, but doctors are often not sure how to use them well each day.
The AMA and other experts suggest detailed plans made for each medical practice. These plans should include:
Practice managers and IT staff should lead these efforts. They need to work closely with doctors so using AI does not add extra work or interfere with patient care.
They must also make sure AI follows all relevant healthcare rules and policies. This includes protecting patient privacy and computer security. The AMA says being open about how AI helps with clinical and office decisions is very important for keeping doctor trust.
One of the biggest worries for doctors using AI is having strong clinical proof that AI really helps. Many want to be sure that AI tools are tested by scientific studies and show clear benefits for patient care or office efficiency.
Research from the AMA shows doctors are more interested in AI, but they still worry about a lack of good evidence and clear guidance on how to use it. To support AI use, healthcare groups should:
Practice managers can lead or help with these research efforts. They might also team up with universities and AI companies for trials or performance reviews.
Training is very important when introducing new technology in healthcare. Doctors and staff need to learn about AI, how to use it well, and understand any limits and ethical issues.
The AMA’s STEPS Forward® program offers free resources that count as medical education credits. These help doctors safely add AI to their daily work. The training covers:
Practice leaders and IT staff should provide these learning opportunities. Repeated training builds confidence and reduces worries about new technology. It also helps the whole care team use AI better to help patients and reduce office tasks.
Training should also include healthcare support staff like medical assistants and billing coders. These workers often use AI systems that handle things like appointment scheduling and phone answering.
Creating policies for AI use in medical offices is important to make sure AI is used responsibly, ethically, and legally.
The AMA has given recommendations that focus on:
Practice managers and IT leaders should create office policies based on AMA advice and federal rules. These help lower risks and build trust that AI use is safe and useful.
One key part of supporting AI use is adding AI functions into current clinical and office workflows. This can lower doctor workload and make the practice run better.
AI-powered workflow automation is growing fast to handle routine tasks in healthcare. The AHIMA Virtual AI Summit in 2025 noted that many non-clinical AI tools quietly automate time-consuming jobs in healthcare operations. Examples include:
Practice managers, owners, and IT staff should look at how AI automation fits their practice needs. For example, Simbo AI offers phone automation that helps cut missed calls and lost appointments by handling patient contacts with AI-based systems. This kind of automation improves patient access and frees staff for other tasks.
Training staff to use automated systems and checking how these tools perform helps make AI adoption successful. Adding AI should not create extra work but should help doctors and staff use their time better.
The AMA stresses involving doctors in creating, managing, and using AI tools. Doctors are the final users, and their needs and opinions are important to make AI that works well in real healthcare.
In 2025, the AMA started the Center for Digital Health and AI to put doctors in charge of guiding AI progress. This group also helps with policy and supports doctor leadership in digital healthcare.
Healthcare groups should encourage doctor leaders to work with IT staff and AI companies. This teamwork helps make sure AI tools fit clinical work, keep care quality high, and protect patient safety.
Here are main actions healthcare management should focus on to support AI use by doctors:
Helping doctors use AI tools is not simple but is needed as AI use grows in U.S. healthcare. By focusing on clear guidance, research, training, good policies, and workflow automation, healthcare leaders can help doctors get the most from AI while keeping care quality and office efficiency high.
The AMA defines augmented intelligence as AI’s assistive role that enhances human intelligence rather than replaces it, emphasizing collaboration between AI tools and clinicians to improve healthcare outcomes.
The AMA advocates for ethical, equitable, and responsible design and use of AI, emphasizing transparency to physicians and patients, oversight of AI tools, handling physician liability, and protecting data privacy and cybersecurity.
In 2024, 66% of physicians reported using AI tools, up from 38% in 2023. About 68% see some advantages, reflecting growing enthusiasm but also concerns about implementation and the need for clinical evidence to support adoption.
AI is transforming medical education by aiding educators and learners, enabling precision education, and becoming a subject for study, ultimately aiming to enhance precision health in patient care.
AI algorithms have the potential to transform practice management by improving administrative efficiency and reducing physician burden, but responsible development, implementation, and maintenance are critical to overcoming real-world challenges.
The AMA stresses the importance of transparency to both physicians and patients regarding AI tools, including what AI systems do, how they make decisions, and disclosing AI involvement in care and administrative processes.
The AMA policy highlights the importance of clarifying physician liability when AI tools are used, urging development of guidelines that ensure physicians are aware of their responsibilities while using AI in clinical practice.
CPT® codes provide a standardized language for reporting AI-enabled medical procedures and services, facilitating seamless processing, reimbursement, and analytics, with ongoing AMA support for coding, payment, and coverage pathways.
Challenges include ethical concerns, ensuring AI inclusivity and fairness, data privacy, cybersecurity risks, regulatory compliance, and maintaining physician trust during AI development and deployment phases.
The AMA suggests providing practical implementation guidance, clinical evidence, training resources, policy frameworks, and collaboration opportunities with technology leaders to help physicians confidently integrate AI into their workflows.