Exploring the perspectives of healthcare professionals regarding artificial intelligence; acceptance and challenges

• Published in: BMC health services research Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 1200 - 9
• Main Authors: Yousif, Muhammad, Asghar, Saima, Akbar, Jamshaid, Masood, Imran, Arshad, Muhammad Rizwan, Naeem, Javaria, Azam, Abdullah, Iqbal, Zakia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 08-10-2024; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adult; Artificial Intelligence; Attitude of Health Personnel; Chatbots; Data collection; Drug stores; Female; Health aspects; Health care industry; Health Personnel - psychology; Healthcare professionals; Healthcare system; Hospitals; Humans; Information systems; Interviews; Interviews as Topic; Knowledge; Male; Medical errors; Medical personnel; Methods; Nurses; Pakistan; Patient monitoring; Practice; Prevention; Professional ethics; Qualitative Research; Qualitative study; Social networks; Technology adoption; Pakistan; Healthcare system; Healthcare professionals; Pakistan; Qualitative study; Artificial intelligence
• ISSN: 1472-6963; 1472-6963
• DOI: 10.1186/s12913-024-11667-9

The main objective of the study was to explore the perspectives of healthcare professionals (HCPs) regarding artificial intelligence (AI) and to identify challenges in its incorporation in the healthcare sector of Pakistan.
A qualitative exploratory study design was adopted. The study was conducted from January 15th to February 29th, 2024, and HCPs (doctors, pharmacists and nurses) from two tertiary care teaching hospitals in southern Punjab, Pakistan were taken as the study population. The interviews were conducted with the help of a semi structured interview schema. A thematic approach was adopted to analyse the data.
Out of 40 HCPs approached, 25 participated in the study with a response rate of 62%. The participants included in the study were doctors (14), pharmacists (6) and nurses (5). The participants had limited knowledge regarding AI and its basics. However, they showed positive perceptions about its incorporation. They believed that many of the problems faced by the healthcare sector of Pakistan can be minimized by AI incorporation. They believed that AI can boost up the efficiency of healthcare providers, reduce their workload, save time and minimize medical errors. Four main themes with multiple subthemes were identified: (1) Cognizance of AI, (2) Acceptability of AI among HCPs and training requirements for effective incorporation, (3) Merits and Demerits of AI, and (4) Challenges in incorporation of AI with proposed solutions.
HCPs showed a willingness to embrace AI incorporation and believed that it may bring numerous benefits to the health system. Policymakers should take necessary steps to ensure AI incorporation in our healthcare sector.