Assessing AI tool use among New York State clinicians

Abstract

ABSTRACT Artificial intelligence (AI) is dramatically changing the healthcare landscape by providing patients, clinicians, administrators, and public health professionals with tools aiming to improve efficiency, outcomes, and experience in health. As elsewhere, New York State (NYS) experiences high demand for - and high investment in - transformation in healthcare with AI tools, though little is known about clinicians’ use and interest in adopting AI tools in their work. A large share of the nation’s future primary care clinicians train and work in NYS, and the state’s ability to establish clear policies, provide tools, and elevate AI competency have implications for care delivery nationally. As a result, we undertook this analysis of NYS clinicians’ use of AI to better understand opportunities for its adoption and inclusion in continuing education. For this analysis, we included healthcare providers who deliver ambulatory or specialty medical care within NYS, with use/frequency/purpose of AI tools by clinicians in their work as the main outcome. Of 305 NYS clinical providers responding, 23.4% indicated they use AI tools for work, and 11.1% report monthly use, 8.5% weekly use, and 4.6% daily use. AI was primarily used to search guidelines and ask clinical questions, followed by identifying drug interactions, analyzing data, analyzing images/labs, and creating care plans and patient recommendations. AI use did not vary significantly across professional disciplines or practice types, though independent practitioners were significantly more likely than advanced practice providers to use AI in their work, as were providers using social media and digital methods for obtaining continuing education. AI use increased substantially in 2025 compared with 2024. Overall, our findings suggest that programs targeting clinicians could incorporate these findings in designing accessible and acceptable AI-related continuing education opportunities to help familiarize clinicians with opportunities and risks for integrating AI tools into their practices. Author Summary AI tools are rapidly gaining traction in the delivery of healthcare. We found that clinician use of AI was quite limited (23%), though growing. Those using AI tools used them sparingly in their work, with only about 5% reporting daily use. The purposes for which clinicians report using AI – asking clinical questions, interpreting patient results, creating patient educational materials - could contribute substantially to healthcare outcomes if widely adopted. Designers of continuing education for clinicians should help provide opportunities for clinicians to improve their familiarity, use, and competency with AI tools, to help maximize the potential health benefits possible for patients and communities.

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