Healthcare Professionals' Attitudes, Knowledge, and Practices Concerning AI in Relation to Their Clinical Opinions and Decision-Making

Aim of the Study: Artificial Intelligence (AI) assimilation into the field of medicine has the potential to considerably increase the accuracy, efficiency, and overall quality of patient care. Methodology: This cross-sectional mixed method study (QUAN-qual) investigates the attitudes, knowledge, and practices concerning AI among healthcare professionals and its impact on their clinical opinions and decision-making. For this purpose, (n=146) healthcare professionals were selected through stratified random sampling. Findings: The study findings reveal that the majority of healthcare professionals hold a positive attitude toward the utilization of AI in healthcare. A significant portion lacks adequate awareness of AI tools and related applications, though the utilization of AI is moderately prevalent in clinical practices. The majority of healthcare professionals admitted that AI has many benefits in the healthcare field from improving diagnostic accuracy, observing patient’s progress, and handling treatment plans. Nonetheless, they also stressed considerable challenges including lack of expertise in accessing technical equipment, ethical-concerns, and data privacy, with a major fear of their own job displacement. Furthermore, study found a significant positive correlation between attitude, knowledge, and practices of AI among healthcare professionals. Conclusion: There is still a need for targeted training programs and improvement in policies that can support professionals to understand AI and its utilization in their field. A significant collaboration is required among technologists, healthcare providers, and ethicists to develop and implement AI solutions. However, its successful implementation depends on overcoming significant challenges in the medical field related to knowledge, attitude, and ethical concerns.