AI misconceptions: A conversation with Michael Blackman, M.D., MBA

Michael Blackman, M.D., MBA, chief medical officer of Greenway Health, sat down with Medical Economics at the MGMA Leaders Conference 2025 to talk about artificial intelligence (AI) and preview his Tuesday session, "Fact, Fiction and the Future of AI in Healthcare."

Blackman called the notion that AI will replace physicians one of the biggest myths in circulation. Instead, he described the technology as an “instant second opinion” that still relies on human judgment. “If people give up critical thinking, that’s gonna be a real problem,” he said.

Blackman pointed to ambient documentation as one of the clearest examples of AI’s current value, saving physicians hours each day and allowing them to better focus on patients. Beyond clinical support, he said AI can reduce administrative burdens through task automation, billing and coding — delivering returns not just in dollars but in quality of care and clinician well-being.

Still, he cautioned that adoption is slowed by the flood of new products and uncertainty about integration into existing workflows.

For practices, he advised focusing less on the technology itself and more on the problems they want to solve. “If you do the right thing for the patient, everything else really generally follows,” Blackman said.