Healthcare Professionals' Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare-A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies.
Huotari Sini, Mikkonen Kristina, Jarva Erika and 4 others
PMID 41588866WHAT IT FOUND
Clinicians view AI as a tool for efficiency and safety, not a replacement for human judgment.
They fear deskilling and job loss but accept AI if it frees time for patient care. Trust depends on transparency and nurses having a voice in design.
Key findings
01Healthcare professionals perceive AI as beneficial for workflow efficiency and freeing up time for direct patient care, but worry about deskilling and job displacement.
02Trust in AI systems is low without transparency, and professionals insist that final clinical decisions and accountability for patient outcomes remain with them, not the algorithm.
03Professionals require specific training and organizational support to integrate AI, and want to be involved in the design process to ensure tools fit clinical workflows.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPsWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Physicians were explicitly excluded from the synthesis to focus on other healthcare professions, which limits the generalizability to medical decision-making contexts. The definition of AI was broad, and some technologies incorporating AI might have been missed if not explicitly labeled as such in the original studies. The review relied on qualitative studies which vary in methodological quality; only one study met all critical appraisal criteria. Reference lists of included studies were not screened, potentially missing relevant data. Language restrictions to English and Finnish may have excluded relevant studies from other regions.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The work was supported by the University of Oulu and The Academy of Finland.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the positive perceptions of AI as evidence that AI tools are currently safe or effective for clinical use. The study reports what clinicians think and feel about AI, not clinical outcomes from using it. Trust and acceptance are conditional on transparency and training, not proven efficacy.