Healthcare Leaders' Perceptions of the Usefulness of AI Applications in Clinical Work: A Qualitative Study.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is often presented as a technology that changes healthcare and is useful in clinical work in disease prediction, diagnosis, treatment effectiveness, and precision health. This study aimed to explore healthcare leaders' perceptions of the usefulness of AI applications in clinical work. The study was based on qualitative content analysis. Individual interviews were conducted with 26 healthcare leaders. The usefulness of AI applications in clinical care was described in terms of expected benefits for 1) patients as supporting individualized self-management and person-centered information support tools 2) healthcare professionals in terms of providing decision-support in diagnostics, risk assessments, treatment recommendations, warning systems, and as a new colleague supporting the clinical work, and 3) organizations as providing patient safety and decision-support in prioritizing healthcare resources in organizing healthcare.