Evidence-based action plan for integrating artificial intelligence in an academic medical centre-a multidisciplinary approach

INTRODUCTION: As the effectiveness of artificial intelligence (AI) in enhancing various facets of healthcare delivery becomes more apparent, it is anticipated that AI will soon find its way into standard clinical practices, even in low and middle-income countries. The objective of this study was to create an action plan for integrating AI into medical education, research, and clinical practices utilizing the SWITCH model of change integrating both rational and emotional aspects. METHODS: This exploratory qualitative study employed reflexive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and a co-design workshop, followed by the collaborative development of an action plan. The study was conducted from May 2023 to May 2024, at the Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. The development of an action plan was informed by interviews, co-design workshop, and discussions with diverse group of academic leaders, healthcare professionals and medical students. All interviews, workshop sessions, and planning meetings were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and anonymized. Data management was conducted manually using Microsoft Word and Excel. Findings after thematic analysis of the qualitative interviews and findings from the co-design workshop were gradually, and inductively transformed into the content for the action plan for integrating AI into healthcare. RESULTS: The content analysis of interviews identified following four themes: AI opportunities, apprehensions toward AI-induced changes, pushing change through leadership styles, and importance of AI related capacity building. During the workshop, participants discussed aligning current AI knowledge with future requirements by identifying clear instructions, emotional motivators, and environmental changes required on the path of AI integration. The proposed action plan conceptualized AI integration as multidimensional change process comprising three domains: strategic actions, change pathway enablement and environmental readiness and human motivation operationalized through twenty actionable components. CONCLUSION: The study findings provide a context specific conceptual action plan for healthcare professionals to integrate AI into medical education, clinical service and research, Future work should focus on pilot implementation and empirical validations of the action plan across diverse healthcare settings to assess feasibility, effectiveness and scalability.