More than one-third of clinicians say artificial intelligence use is allowing them to see more patients, with a median of five additional patients per week, a new report from Philips found.
The Future Health Index 2026 (PDF) drew insights from more than 2,000 healthcare professionals and more than 20,000 patients across 10 countries.
Nearly three-quarters (74%) of clinicians say their use of AI-enabled tools provided by their organization has increased over the past year. Among surveyed clinicians, 52% are using AI to transcribe clinical notes and close to half (46%) are using generative AI as a professional "buddy" to discuss work-related ideas. AI use is also growing for clinical decision support as 45% use AI tools to suggest diagnoses based on patient symptoms and 44% use AI-enabled tools to flag potential dangerous drug combinations.
Alongside increased capacity to see more patients, nearly 6 in 10 clinicians (58%) report workflow efficiency improvements and more than half (54%) see an improvement in the speed of their diagnostic decision-making. In addition, 40% report improved access to consolidated patient data.
AI is giving clinicians time, the report found, as nearly half (49%) report time savings of at least 132 hours annually from using AI tools.
Moreover, 36% of clinicians report less work-related stress with AI use, 35% cite better work-life balance and 32% say they work less overtime or bring less work home. And 27% of clinicians report that AI has identified or prevented potential medical errors at least three times within the last three months.
As AI use increases, nine in 10 clinicians say it is also essential to maintain human oversight.
On the patient side, 56% of respondents who regularly use AI report being optimistic that solutions can improve healthcare. Patients say these tools help them feel more informed about their health (45%), ask their doctor better questions (47%) and make the most out of their appointment (41%), according to the report.
Philips Chief Innovation Officer Shez Partovi said in a statement that AI is making a “tangible difference in everyday clinical practice” for both patients and providers.
“We are seeing people save meaningful time, care for more patients, and feel better at work,” Partovi said. “At its heart, AI is there to support healthcare professionals, giving them more room to focus on what matters most: clinical decision-making and patient care. At the same time, we see many health systems are still early in their AI journey, and there's real work ahead on infrastructure and training.”
The report notes AI adoption is uneven and has “exposed gaps” in organizational readiness for such tools. Sixty-one percent of clinicians report leadership are taking the correct steps to implement AI, though 77% report inadequate, inconsistent or unavailable training.
Nearly three-quarters of US healthcare professionals (72%) turn to personal AI tools when workplace options don’t meet their needs. This suggests that clinician demand for AI is moving quickly—sometimes faster than organizations can respond – as healthcare professionals use publicly available tools alongside those provided by their organizations.
"If healthcare gets this right, the opportunities are significant. Integrated AI could help care teams move toward more coordinated, proactive and personalized care—supporting earlier intervention, better patient experiences and improved outcomes," Partovi and Carla Goulart Peron, chief medical officer at Philips, wrote in the report.
"But scaling AI responsibly will matter as much as scaling it quickly," they wrote. "As AI becomes more embedded in care, how healthcare systems and technology partners integrate and govern AI will determine whether it strengthens trust – or erodes it. That places a clear responsibility on technology partners to move beyond isolated solutions and design AI into clinical workflows in ways that are trusted, interoperable and scalable."