Although artificial intelligence in healthcare holds so much promise: reduced costs, faster and more accessible diagnostics, operational efficiency, greater personalization, and more patient-doctor time, its route into clinical practice is difficult.
Innovators developing AI for healthcare need to be cognizant of the importance of designing for workflow integration, the strain on doctors from technologies that are poorly designed, the competition for clinical champions, and a growing desire for well-defined business justifications for any new technologies.
Understanding the nuances of integrating new technology into a strictly regulated and mission-critical setting is crucial for AI developers to sell their solutions and for users to be able to adopt them and realize the benefits of AI.
Early Adopters of AI in Healthcare: Lessons from the Field
Every health-tech business wants early adopters like Dr. Pouya Shafipour. He was one of the first Providence Health attending physicians to adopt AI-based speech transcription and charting software. Dr. Shafipour uses and champions the technology, telling others how it may improve their daily work. He found that while excitement for new technologies is helpful, implementation might be more complicated than it looks.
Dr. Shafipour, like other primary care doctors, sees over 20 patients every day and spends hours answering emails, running labs, refilling medications, and documenting (also called “charting.") AI transcription might free up his time for medical treatment by speeding up documentation - freeing up hours of time that could be spent in-person with patients. NLP and pre-written text capabilities are promising, yet just 15% of Providence Health colleagues use this AI technology. The main obstacle? Workflow compatibility.
“You need to be tech-savvy to know how to incorporate it,” Dr. Shafipour notes. To leverage the transcription software, he must complete several steps for each patient: logging into the app on his phone, navigating to the patient’s section, accessing the DAX button, activating it, and then managing disruptions like incoming calls that can interrupt transcription. It might see broader adoption if the software could integrate directly with the in-room computer. “If the transcription app were just working on the desktop, it would make it easier for everyone,” he explains. At Providence Health every doctor is already required to log into the in-room computer before starting the patient visit.
This instance shows AI engineers that new healthcare technology should ease physician's workflows, not complicate them. The tools should eliminate attention demands and workflow disturbances for a smooth user experience.
Dr. Shafipour doesn't oversee technology procurement because he's part of a wider healthcare system. The hospital's IT department and Value Analysis Committee do. His input influences system-wide decisions, highlighting a key healthcare trend: smaller practitioners have greater control over technology selection, whereas larger institutions rely on aggregated feedback and evaluation committees to steer new technology expenditures. This puts more pressure on AI companies to prove ROI and clinical success.
Dentist Dr. Nagesh Chakka of Canberra, Australia, also saw the pros and cons of AI integration. “implementing AI-based technologies in my dental practice has been a game-changer in many ways. One of the most significant successes has been the use of AI for diagnostic imaging.” Dr. Chakka said. His clinic employs AI to examine X-rays and scans for better diagnosis and early action. Patients liked the modern technologies.
"The AI system detects issues that humans may miss, giving us a second set of eyes to catch everything." However, incorporating AI was difficult. "We faced some technical hiccups during implementation, such as software integration issues that temporarily slowed down our workflow." Dr. Chakka said. Some of his staff also had concerns about over-reliance on technology. To address these issues, he trained personnel to see AI as a support, not a replacement.
Dr. Shafipour is also concerned about AI accuracy and dependability. Over-reliance on AI transcription could lead fatigued doctors to skip a step in reviewing notes when they have high workloads. He’s personally seen mistakes in the transcriptions and knows the software cannot be relied on 100%.
At Providence Health, Dr. Shafipour was self-educated on new tools, making him an early adopter and technology evangelist. However, product managers should realize that most physicians may resist change without thorough assistance. Dr. Chakka's team at Positive Dental Health initiated their own training sessions “to familiarize everyone with the new technology and emphasized that AI is meant to support, not replace, our clinical judgment.”
Technology clarity is needed as doctors deal with rising workloads and fatigue. According to the American Medical Association, doctors had significant job-related stress, and about half had burnout in 2023, down from the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic but still high compared to other professions.
These findings emphasize the need for AI developers to construct healthcare solutions that integrate into clinical processes. Supporting early adopters like Dr. Shafipour and Dr. Chakka with simple, dependable technology and extensive training may increase adoption and effect.
The Role of the Clinical Champion: The Linchpin of Adoption
In today’s healthcare environment, having a reimbursement code for your product is essential—but it no longer guarantees success. Back in 2005, if a surgeon liked a new technology, they could often influence its purchase for hospital use. Today, approving new healthcare technology demands a strategy and a compelling business case in a complicated, committee-based decision-making process. (Copeland, 2024)
Business-minded committees now make purchasing choices, changing the sales rep's position. Clinical champions like Dr. Pouya Shafipour and Dr. Nagesh Chakka may promote new tools and technologies, but the decision-making process is much more complex. These advocates discuss the product's clinical merits and personal experiences with hospital committees.
Note that these doctors are already busy with a full workload. For them to champion a new technology, they must be given the tools: education, business case, training that would empower them without taxing more of their time.
Crossing the Chasm from early enthusiasts to mass use is not easy. Medical practitioners are balancing many priorities and pressures. To implement a new AI tool they need to see clinical outcome improvements but also practical concerns like accuracy, ease of use, and decision making transparency addressed in the product. Meanwhile medical practice administrators also need to see a strong business and clinical reasons for using a new technology.
AI might hold significant promise but it will only be realized if the solutions fits with doctors' systems and demands. Developing solutions that really improve outcomes without interfering with important procedures depends on knowing the provider's viewpoints, habits, stressors, regulations, and risks.
Connect with us to be interviewed for our upcoming White Paper on Applications of AI in Healthcare
About Applications of AI in Healthcare Research Event:
Goals of the Research Project
AI technology is rapidly transforming the healthcare and life-sciences industry. The StratCraft team is researching the state of adoption of AI in healthcare and the challenges and opportunities faced by entrepreneurs developing these solutions. Our goal is to provide valuable knowledge to investors, entrepreneurs and their commercialization partners, and the decision makers who are at the forefront of testing, purchasing, and using these new technologies.
The research results will be published on the StratCraft website in a white paper and a dynamic database including quotes from all the experts, key opinion leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors interviewed.
Methods of Research
StratCraft Applications of AI in Healthcare Research Event draws on in-person interviews conducted by our team and deep research on frameworks and concepts for how AI development and adoption is progressing. Our project covers important developments in regulation and policy, investment and financing, customer expectations and behaviors, technology adoption and clinical outcomes, and the competitive landscape and unique advantages of the technologies being worked on by both startups and established data analytics, NLP, and AI companies.
StratCraft Partners are experts in commercializing emerging technologies that benefit human life. We work with organizations that have portfolios of cutting edge technologies to help them develop comprehensive commercialization strategy that ensures the success of multiple projects. We also work with deep tech ventures and deep tech incubators to support growth and scaling of emerging technologies that save human life.
Sources
Tyshlek, D., & Shafipour, P. (2024, September 18). Interview with Dr. Pouya Shafipour. Personal.
2, J., & Berg, S. (2024, July 2). Physician burnout rate drops below 50% for first time in 4 years. American Medical Association. https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/physician-health/physician-burnout-rate-drops-below-50-first-time-4-years
Gonzales, M. (2024, May 1). Here’s how bad burnout has become at work. SHRM News. https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/inclusion-diversity/burnout-shrm-research-2024
Copeland, M. (2024, October 24). Medical device design meets value analysis (E. Sugalski, Interviewer). Medical Device Design Meets Value Analysis, LinkedIn, Live, Online, United States of America. https://www.linkedin.com/events/medicaldevicedesignmeetsvaluean7250138638376665088/theater/
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
Comments