AI Misconceptions: Patients don’t need to know when AI is used

Michael Blackman, M.D., MBA, chief medical officer of Greenway Health, spoke with Medical Economics at the MGMA Leaders Conference 2025 in Orlando about how physicians should discuss the use of artificial intelligence (AI) with their patients. He said openness builds trust — especially as AI tools like ambient documentation and decision support become more common in the exam room.

“I’m always in favor of transparency with patients,” Blackman said. “The tool isn’t making the decisions. It’s simply, you know, the same way you would go to an old paper medical reference — it’s just doing it faster and, frankly, more completely.”

He encouraged physicians to explain how these technologies work and to make clear that AI supports, not replaces, clinical judgment