Survey: Patients embrace AI for administrative tasks, sensitive health queries, and communications

Despite growing usage of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, most consumers say they don't notice a difference yet in the patient experience, although there's trending optimism among Americans that AI will improve the patient journey in the next twelve months.

Findings of the United States (U.S.) Consumer Healthcare Survey conducted by Talkdesk revealed that while the human touch remains irreplaceable in many aspects of care, AI holds great promise in helping patients more easily navigate the complexities of healthcare as well as reducing administrative strain on providers that contributes to lengthy response times and overcoming health stigmas.

Key findings

Sixty-two percent (62%) of U.S. patients surveyed felt the support provided by healthcare providers throughout the patient journey has either worsened or remained stagnant in the past year. Many patients expressed frustration with the complexities of navigating the healthcare system, with 23% citing difficulties due to dealing with multiple departments to accomplish something like scheduling an appointment and insurance issues.

• There is a growing anticipation for AI to improve their healthcare experiences. Half (51%) of the respondents believe AI will enhance their patient experience within the next year. This sentiment is particularly strong among men, with nearly 3 in 5 (59%) expressing optimism about AI's potential benefits, compared to just more than 2 in 5 (44%) of women. Millennials also exhibit the highest hopes for AI, with 60% believing in its ability to improve patient experiences.
• AI will streamline interactions with providers. Exactly half of U.S. patients anticipate AI will create a more efficient patient experience because clinical and non-clinical healthcare professionals can spend less time on administrative tasks such as writing patient communications, scheduling new appointments, and note-taking. More than three-quarters (82%) of respondents believe AI will automate reminders for appointments and medication schedules, while 75% believe it can facilitate better coordination of care among different providers. Additionally, 81% anticipate AI will expedite responses to non-clinical inquiries, such as appointment changes.
• The human element remains key in some, but not all, parts of the patient journey. Eighty-one percent (81%) of respondents prefer to consult a human for medical advice and 74% want to discuss their personal health information with a person rather than an automated agent. This highlights a clear preference for human support in most care delivery areas. However, patients indicated they are okay with AI handling administrative tasks such as updating basic information like an address change (60%), managing requests for prescription refills (56%), and scheduling routine appointments (42%).
• AI could break down barriers to care. Thirty percent (30%) of people have avoided seeking medical care due to embarrassment or discomfort in discussing their health conditions with a human representative. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of individuals indicated they would feel more comfortable making appointments for sensitive health issues with an online chatbot than a human staff member, suggesting AI could play a vital role in breaking down barriers to care for stigmatized health issues. In fact, the leading positive aspect of healthcare AI chatbots cited by Americans was that they don't judge (48%), followed by they don't rush patients (38%), and they don't make them feel stupid if they don't understand something (36%).
• Despite its potential, concerns around AI remain. The top worries patients have about the use of AI in healthcare include inaccuracies in its responses (26%), data privacy issues (24%), and the fear of losing the human touch in caregiving (24%). Patients also believe more oversight is needed over the use of AI in clinical settings, with just 23% of respondents saying there were currently adequate regulations.

On the record

"Healthcare providers are looking to AI as a solution for improving efficiency and reducing complexity within the U.S. healthcare system. While our findings clearly show that patients are ready and eager for AI to assist them in navigating the system and handling administrative tasks, the human touch remains essential for providing medical advice and personal health inquiries. As we move forward, it will be important for healthcare providers to responsibly integrate AI to enhance efficiency and personalization while maintaining the expertise that human caregivers can provide," said Patty Hayward, vice president and general manager of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Talkdesk. "This is how the industry can leverage AI to improve the patient journey."

The context

The Talkdesk U.S. Consumer Healthcare Survey was conducted in August 2024 on the online platform Pollfish and collected the views of 1,000 men and women aged 18 and over.

Talkdesk is a global provider of AI-powered customer experience (CX) technology that serves enterprises of all sizes.