A new survey shows physician perceptions toward generative AI (GenAI) are evolving quickly, with 68% of physicians saying they are more likely to think using GenAI in healthcare would be beneficial than they were just one year before the survey was completed. Additionally, 40% of U.S. physicians are ready to use GenAI this year when interacting with patients at the point of care. The survey also found that while physicians are enthusiastic, they have high standards when it comes to selecting GenAI tools they would be confident using in their own practice.
Physicians are optimistic about the potential of GenAI in healthcare
As the healthcare community faces ongoing challenges including workforce shortages and clinician burnout, physicians see strong potential for GenAI to support clinical decision making and improve interactions at the point of care.
Saving time is one of biggest perceived benefits of using GenAI at the point of care
- More than two-thirds of physicians (68%) say GenAI can save time by quickly searching medical literature
- 59% say GenAI can save time by summarizing data about a patient in the electronic health record (EHR)
- More than half (54%) believe GenAI will save them 20% or more time looking for data to assist in clinical decision making
Physicians view GenAI as a tool that can help optimize care teams
- 4 out of 5 of physicians (81%) say GenAI can improve care team interactions with patients
- More than half say GenAI can support continuing education (57%) and day-to-day tasks (56%)
- Almost half (46%) say GenAI can coordinate scheduling across the care team to facilitate timely care
Before using GenAI in their own practice, physicians want to know the source of content
Physicians are highly selective about the GenAI tools they would be comfortable using.
The most important criteria for physicians: content source transparency
- For the majority of physicians (58%), the #1 most important factor when selecting a GenAI tool is knowing the content it is trained on was created by medical professionals
- Before using GenAI in clinical decisions, 9 out of 10 physicians (91%) would have to know the materials it sourced from were created by doctors and medical experts
- 89% would be more likely to use GenAI in clinical decision making if the vendor was transparent about where information came from, who created it and how it was sourced
- 76% would be more comfortable using GenAI from established vendors
There is a gap between physician and patient readiness for GenAI in care
Compared to results from the 2023 consumer survey “Generative AI in Healthcare: Gaining Consumer Trust,” physicians are more ready for GenAI in healthcare than their patients.
- The majority (66%) of physicians believe their patients would be confident in their results if they knew their provider was using GenAI to make decisions about their care, but almost half (48%) of Americans would not be confident in the results
- While only 1 out of 5 physicians believe patients would be concerned about the use of GenAI in a diagnosis, most Americans (80%) say they would be concerned
