Physicians turning to AI for clinical support, not just paperwork, athenahealth survey finds

Artificial intelligence (AI) is taking on a more clinical support role in outpatient care, according to new findings from athenahealth’s athenaInstitute.

The survey, detailed in the whitepaper, "AI on the Frontlines of Care," was fielded by Sago Health and polled 501 physicians and practice administrators across the U.S.

Current AI use

Most outpatient physicians who use AI say it now supports clinical decisions during patient care.

Respondents said AI helps them quickly look up clinical information (60%), bring lab and imaging results into a single view (55%) and surface recent clinical evidence during patient visits (56%).

Sixty percent of clinicians said they prefer AI as an assistant to review charts and catch small details, while 26% said they’re comfortable fully delegating that specific task. Eighty-six percent said they feel comfortable either fully delegating or having AI assist with catching details across patient records.

Nele Jessel, M.D., chief medical officer at athenahealth and co-chair of the athenaInstitute, said clinicians are starting to see AI as a reliable support tool.

“AI in health care has reached a critical inflection point where the discussion is shifting from ‘will clinicians adopt AI’ to ‘how will clinicians adopt AI,’” she said. “Our research shows that, among AI adopters, a growing majority have seen the value AI can deliver and are starting to trust AI as a ‘second opinion’ that can not only automate the busy work that has bogged them down for decades, but act as a strategic assistant that helps them see the full picture, illuminate patterns and reach decisions faster, thereby improving care delivery and patient outcomes.”

Interoperability remains a challenge

Clinicians also pointed to ongoing data barriers.

Half of physicians said they still struggle to find relevant clinical information, while just 2% said accessing timely patient data across systems is not at all challenging. Fifty percent said fragmented or outdated data limits how useful AI can be in clinical care.

Learning curve adds pressure

Nearly a third of clinicians said AI is helping them make care plans faster (33%), while others said it reduces billing and coding errors (21%) and supports professional skill-building (22%). But 24% said getting comfortable with the tools has been harder than expected.

Ciarán DellaFera, M.D., a family physician at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, said AI is finding its place clinically, but only when clinicians stay in control.

“AI, or more specifically advance language-based AI, powered by machine learning and deep learning, has existed for years, but only recently has it begun to prove effective in helping physicians cut through the noise and move beyond administrative tasks to truly support patient care,” DellaFera said.

“Now, we are beginning to see AI tools emerge that can identify patterns that are harder for humans to see, and these insights are helping us make confident clinical decisions,” he said. “AI will never replace provider expertise or the human connection — these are qualities no algorithm can replicate. But it clears the clutter so we can deliver care as intended.”

A view from inside the network

Michael Palantoni, chief strategy and corporate development officer at athenahealth and co-chair of the athenaInstitute, said the company’s network offers a wide lens into outpatient care.

“As AI advancement reshapes the health care experience, it should do so in ways that honor the people at the heart of it: the clinicians, staff and patients,” he said. “The athenaInstitute builds on our long tradition of clinician-centered innovation, elevating athenahealth’s leadership in ambulatory care and tackling the structural friction that continues to limit practices nationwide.”

The report is part of athenaInstitute’s broader work to study real-world AI adoption and help shape practical use cases in ambulatory care.