AI in Healthcare Statistics 2026: Doctors, Devices, Spend
81% of US physicians now use AI in their practice, more than double the 38% in 2023. Healthcare spent an estimated $1.4 billion on generative AI tools in 2025, nearly triple 2024, and $600 million of it went to ambient scribes that write up the visit. The FDA’s list of AI-enabled medical devices reached 1,614 by our count, with a record 335 authorized in 2025 and three in four of them in radiology. Patients are using AI too: a third of US adults turned to an AI chatbot for health advice in the past year. Here are the AI in healthcare statistics worth knowing in 2026, each sourced inline with the year noted.
81% of physicians use AI, up from 38% in 2023
81% of physicians use AI in their practices, more than double the 38% in 2023, in the American Medical Association’s survey of nearly 1,700 physicians across specialties and practice settings (AMA, 2026).
The average physician now uses AI for 2.3 tasks, up from 1.1 in 2023 (AMA, 2026).
The top uses are summarizing medical research (39%), writing discharge instructions, care plans or progress notes (30%), documenting billing codes, charts or visit notes (28%) and drafting replies to patient portal messages (19%) (AMA, 2026).
More than three-quarters of physicians believe AI improves their ability to care for patients, up from 65% in 2023 (AMA, 2026).
88% of physicians are concerned about losing skills to AI, particularly those with 10 years or less in practice, and 85% want to be consulted or directly involved in decisions about AI adoption (AMA, 2026).
Healthcare spent $1.4 billion on AI in 2025
Healthcare AI spending reached an estimated $1.4 billion in 2025, nearly triple 2024, from Menlo Ventures’ surveys of more than 700 US healthcare executives (Menlo Ventures, 2025).
22% of healthcare organizations have implemented domain-specific AI tools, 7x more than in 2024 and 10x more than in 2023 (Menlo Ventures, 2025). Health systems lead at 27%, ahead of outpatient providers (18%) and payers (14%).
Healthcare is deploying AI at 2.2 times the rate of the broader US economy (Menlo Ventures, 2025).
Ambient clinical documentation took $600 million of 2025 spending, up 2.4x in a year, and coding and billing automation took $450 million (Menlo Ventures, 2025).
85% of healthcare generative AI spending goes to startups rather than incumbents (Menlo Ventures, 2025).
AI scribes cut reported burnout from 52% to 39% in 30 days
Burnout among 263 physicians at six US health systems fell from 51.9% to 38.8% after 30 days of using an ambient AI scribe, in a Yale-led study published in JAMA Network Open (Yale School of Medicine, 2025). The study had no control group, the burnout measure was self-reported, and the scribe vendor helped collect the data.
41.9% of US physicians reported at least one symptom of burnout in 2025, down from 43.2% in 2024 and 48.2% in 2023, from AMA surveys of nearly 19,000 physicians at 106 health systems (AMA, 2026).
70% of physicians see AI as a tool to automate the tasks that contribute to burnout (AMA, 2026).
The FDA has authorized 1,614 AI-enabled devices
The FDA’s AI-Enabled Medical Device List contains 1,614 devices, by our count of the list as last updated September 4, 2026, covering authorizations through June 29, 2026 (FDA, 2026). The FDA notes the list is not comprehensive: it is built by searching authorization summaries for AI-related terms.
A record 335 AI-enabled devices were authorized in 2025, up from 235 in 2024 and 226 in 2023, and 181 more in the first half of 2026 (FDA, 2026, our count).
Radiology accounts for 1,215 of the 1,614 devices, about three in four, followed by cardiovascular (160) and neurology (73) (FDA, 2026, our count).
A third of US adults ask AI for health advice
32% of US adults have turned to AI tools or chatbots for health information or advice in the past year, 29% for physical health and 16% for mental health, in KFF’s survey fielded February 24 to March 2, 2026 (KFF, 2026).
That rivals social media as a health information source but trails health care professionals (80%) and internet search engines (68%) (KFF, 2026).
65% of people who use AI for health information say wanting quick advice was a major reason, and 41% say they look things up before seeing a provider (KFF, 2026).
77% of adults are concerned about the privacy of medical information they give AI tools, yet 41% of AI health users, 13% of all adults, have uploaded personal medical information to a chatbot (KFF, 2026).
For AI use beyond healthcare, see AI statistics and AI agent statistics.
Answering the phone while the doctor is with a patient
Physicians are using AI for notes, research and portal replies. The front desk is still a phone that rings while staff are busy, and a missed call is often a patient who books somewhere else. Carly for teams answers your practice’s line around the clock or only after hours, answers common questions, books the appointment on the right provider’s calendar and texts the confirmation from your number, handing the caller to a person when they ask. Carly connects to thousands of apps, so she works with the scheduling tools your practice already uses.
For more, see AI agents for medical practices and the best AI tools for medical practices.
FAQ
What percentage of doctors use AI? 81% of US physicians use AI in their practices, up from 38% in 2023. The most common uses are summarizing research and writing clinical documentation (AMA, 2026).
How much is healthcare spending on AI? An estimated $1.4 billion in 2025, nearly triple 2024, with $600 million going to ambient clinical documentation (Menlo Ventures, 2025).
How many AI medical devices has the FDA approved? The FDA’s AI-Enabled Medical Device List held 1,614 devices as of its September 2026 update, about three in four in radiology. A record 335 were authorized in 2025 (FDA, 2026, our count).
Do AI scribes reduce physician burnout? In one study of 263 physicians, reported burnout fell from 51.9% to 38.8% after 30 days with an AI scribe. The study had no control group (Yale School of Medicine, 2025).
Related: AI Statistics · AI Agent Statistics · Burnout Statistics · Missed Call Statistics · AI in Education Statistics
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