AI in healthcare statistics: Adoption, patient trust & trends

In this article:

• AI adoption in healthcare trends
• AI in diagnostics and clinical care
• Patient trust and AI in healthcare
• AI in administrative and billing automation
• AI in drug discovery and development
• FAQs

In this article

• AI adoption in healthcare trends
• AI in diagnostics and clinical care
• Patient trust and AI in healthcare
• AI in administrative and billing automation
• AI in drug discovery and development
• FAQs

AI use in healthcare is accelerating rapidly in 2026. More healthcare providers and hospitals are adopting AI tools, while patient-facing chatbots, symptom checkers, and automated back-office tasks are becoming widespread. According to the 2026 SingleCare AI and Medication Survey, 46% of U.S. adults have used AI to answer a medication question, showing how quickly AI is becoming part of everyday healthcare decisions.

We’ve gathered original survey data and verified research on AI adoption, clinical tools, patient trust, and drug development to provide a glimpse into the future of AI’s use in healthcare.

SingleCare’s AI and Medication Survey: A real-world AI in healthcare case study

In March 2026, SingleCare surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults (ages 18 and older) to get a clear look at how everyday patients, rather than doctors or hospital administrators, use AI to guide their healthcare decisions today. Of those surveyed:

• 46% have asked an AI tool a question about their medication.
• 78% felt the medication details they received from AI were at least somewhat accurate.
• 83% voiced concern that AI could give incorrect medication guidance, showing that most people use these tools despite lingering doubts.
• 49% adjusted how they take a prescription based on information from an AI tool.
• Men were more likely than women to turn to AI for medication questions (50% vs. 44%).

Among AI users, queries focused heavily on financial savings, such as understanding insurance coverage, comparing prices, and finding prescription savings, rather than side effects or drug interactions. In fact, nearly half (47%) used AI specifically to look for ways to lower prescription costs.

Healthcare professionals remain the primary resource for medication questions (40%), followed by health websites (26%) and AI tools (15%), showing that AI is adding to, not replacing, expert medical advice.

Key takeaway: Patients are actively using AI to help manage prescriptions and costs on their own, even while maintaining healthy caution about the guidance they receive.

AI adoption in healthcare overall: The biggest AI in healthcare trends

When comparing AI in healthcare trends between patients and care providers, the adoption curve is even steeper.

• On the healthcare provider side, the American Medical Association’s 2026 Physician AI Survey found that more than 80% of physicians now use AI professionally, up from just 38% in 2023.

• McKinsey’s late-2025 survey of healthcare payers, providers, and health-services-and-technology firms found that 50% of organizations had implemented generative AI, up from just 25% in 2023, doubling in two years.
• More than 80% of McKinsey’s surveyed leaders said their organization has deployed at least one generative AI use case to end users, not just piloted one internally.

The AI healthcare market is growing rapidly, too. Grand View Research valued the global market at roughly $37 billion in 2025 and projects it will grow by more than 35% annually over the next decade as AI is used more widely in standard practice.

AI in diagnostics and clinical care

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized more than 1,500 medical devices that are enabled with AI or machine learning. About 76% of these devices are used in radiology.

AI may also help healthcare providers detect cancer more efficiently.

• The MASAI trial, a study of more than 100,000 women in Sweden, found that AI-supported mammography screening increased breast cancer detection by 29% without increasing false positives, according to a review in the journal Cancer.
• It also reduced radiologists’ screening workload by 44%.

AI tools are decreasing the amount of time healthcare providers have to spend on paperwork.

• A UCLA Health trial involving 238 healthcare providers found that ambient AI scribes reduced documentation time by nearly 10%. Ambient AI scribes automatically create clinical notes from conversations between healthcare providers and patients.

Other research suggests these tools may also reduce burnout.

• In a study at Mass General Brigham, burnout rates among surveyed healthcare providers fell from about 51% to 29% after they began using ambient AI documentation tools.

Patient trust and AI in healthcare

Americans want to know when AI is being used in their healthcare.

• According to a 2026 Pew Research Center survey, 72% of U.S. adults said it was very or extremely important for healthcare providers to tell patients when they use AI.
• More than half of respondents (53%) said they have little or no say regarding whether AI is used in their healthcare. “Currently, at both my in-person and telehealth medical practices, we verbally ask patients for consent to use AI to transcribe our notes,” explains Chad Shaffer, MD, member of the SingleCare Medical Review Board. “But protocols vary among health systems and continue to evolve as AI becomes more commonplace. I encourage patients to ask questions to better understand if and how AI is being used.”
• Only 21% of respondents were comfortable with the amount of say they currently have in their healthcare.

At the same time, more people are using AI for health information.

• A 2026 KFF poll found that 32% of U.S. adults had used AI chatbots for health advice or information in the previous 12 months. That’s about the same percentage of people who used social media to research health information.

SingleCare’s own research found a similar mix of trust and concern. Among people who used AI for medication questions, 78% said the information seemed at least somewhat accurate. However, 83% were still concerned that AI could provide incorrect medication information. “AI answers can provide useful insights but should not be the sole basis for healthcare decisions,” advises Dr. Shaffer. “Take the information provided by AI to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to discuss in the context of your unique medical history and prescription list.”

AI in administrative and billing automation

AI could help healthcare organizations save money by automating routine administrative work.

• One estimate cited by McKinsey suggests that wider use of AI could save the U.S. healthcare system $200 billion to $360 billion a year.
• Automating healthcare operations could represent a $150 billion opportunity for operational improvement, including reductions in administrative costs.

Billing and insurance are especially promising areas for AI. These tools can help automate tasks such as processing claims, checking payments, managing prior authorizations, and detecting billing errors.

• McKinsey estimates that using AI in healthcare revenue cycle management could reduce the cost of collecting payments by 30% to 60%.

However, healthcare organizations still face challenges putting AI into everyday use.

• In a 2026 McKinsey survey, healthcare leaders named integrating AI into existing systems as one of the biggest barriers to wider adoption. Many organizations also lack the internal staff and expertise needed to implement AI at scale.

AI in drug discovery and development

Researchers can use AI throughout a drug’s product life cycle to analyze large amounts of data, identify promising biological targets, predict how potential drugs will behave, design new molecules for testing, and monitor drug safety when in use. AI could help researchers discover new drugs faster, but it’s too early to determine how successful those AI-discovered drugs may be.

• A 2024 analysis found that 80% to 90% of AI-discovered drugs entering Phase 1 clinical trials were successful, which is higher than historical industry averages. However, only a small number of AI-discovered drugs had reached clinical trials.
• Rentosertib, an experimental drug for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (a serious lung disease), is one of the most advanced AI-discovered drug candidates. In a Phase 2a trial, the highest dose was associated with improved lung function after 12 weeks, while patients who received a placebo experienced a decline in lung function. The drug has advanced to Phase 3, which is typically the final major stage of clinical testing before a drug can be submitted for FDA approval.

Despite this progress, AI has not yet proven that it can consistently produce successful new medications. As of 2026, AI-discovered drugs remain a small part of the clinical pipeline, and more data from later-stage trials are needed to determine whether AI can improve the chances of bringing a new drug to market.

“The early results look impressive, with one AI-discovered drug already reaching Phase 3 trials. But to say AI is actually making drug discovery more successful, I think we’d need to see several AI-discovered drugs complete Phase 3 trials and get approval,” says Gerardo Sison, Pharm.D., member of the SingleCare Medical Review Board. “We’d also want to run head-to-head trials with established drugs in the same disease areas. Right now, we’re speeding up discovery with AI, but seeing clinically significant outcomes is still a different story.”

Bottom line

AI is becoming a regular part of healthcare, whether helping healthcare providers diagnose and document care, handling administrative tasks, or developing new drugs. However, patients still have concerns about its accuracy and want more transparency about when AI is being used for their care. Our SingleCare AI and Medication Survey shows that AI is also changing how consumers make healthcare decisions. People are using AI to research medications, costs, side effects, drug interactions, and more, sometimes without consulting their healthcare provider. Even those who use AI for medication questions have doubts about its accuracy.

Frequently asked questions

What percentage of doctors use AI in healthcare?

More than 80% of healthcare providers report using AI professionally, versus 38% in 2023, according to the American Medical Association’s 2026 Physician AI Survey.

How many patients use AI for health advice?

About 1 in 3 U.S. adults use AI for health information or advice. A 2026 KFF poll found that 32% of adults had used AI chatbots for physical or mental health information or advice in the previous year.

How many patients use AI for medication questions?

According to SingleCare’s 2026 AI and Medication Survey, 46% of U.S. adults have used an AI tool to answer a medication-related question.

How many AI-enabled medical devices has the FDA authorized?

The FDA has authorized more than 1,500 AI-enabled medical devices, mostly in radiology, but device authorization is different from drug approval. AI is also being used to discover and develop experimental drugs, but they’re still working their way through clinical trials.

Can AI help detect cancer?

Evidence from a major randomized trial shows that incorporating AI into mammography screening boosted breast cancer detection rates by 29% without increasing false positives, while multiple studies confirm that ambient AI scribes significantly decrease physician administrative burden and burnout.

Do patients trust AI in healthcare?

Not entirely. According to SingleCare’s AI and medication survey, most AI users found the information reasonably accurate, but the large majority were still concerned it could be wrong.

About the SingleCare AI and Medication Survey

SingleCare conducted this AI and medication survey online through AYTM on March 13, 2026. This national survey includes 1,000 United States adults ages 18 and older. Participant samples were census-balanced to match the U.S. population in age, gender, and U.S. region. The AI examples we gave to surveytakers included ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Mode. The original findings from the 2026 SingleCare AI and Medication Survey may be cited with attribution to SingleCare. External statistics on this page should be attributed to their original source.