AI in Medical Practices: Adoption Statistics and Trends 2026
AI adoption in US medical practices in 2026: physician AI use hit 81%, ambient scribes lead, and admin automation ranks first. Named-source stats.
Most physicians now use AI at work. In the American Medical Association's 2026 survey, 81% of physicians reported using AI professionally, up from 38% in 2023. Adoption is led by documentation tools like ambient AI scribes, with administrative automation ranked the top opportunity by clinicians.
Quick answer:
- Physician AI use reached 81% in 2026 (American Medical Association), more than double the 38% recorded in 2023.
- Ambient AI scribes are the fastest-moving category; large health systems put current adoption near 35% (Menlo Ventures, 2025).
- Clinicians rank "administrative burden through automation" as AI's top opportunity (57%, American Medical Association, 2024).
How many clinics and clinicians use AI in 2026?
The clearest national read comes from the American Medical Association (AMA), which has surveyed physicians on augmented intelligence every year since 2023. Its 2026 Physician Survey on Augmented Intelligence found that 81% of physicians use AI in a professional context, with an average of 2.3 use cases each. That is up from 66% in the AMA's 2024 survey and 38% in 2023 - adoption has more than doubled in three years.
One caveat for practice owners: these figures measure individual physicians, not whole practices. A clinic counts as an "AI user" the moment one clinician runs one tool, so practice-level, end-to-end adoption is lower than the headline number. The direction is still unambiguous. The same AMA research shows physician uncertainty about AI falling from 18% in 2024 to 9% in 2026, which suggests the remaining holdouts are shrinking rather than digging in.
The documentation burden driving adoption
Adoption is being pulled forward by paperwork. The AMA's National Physician Comparison Report, drawn from its Organizational Biopsy assessment of roughly 19,000 physicians, put physician burnout at 41.9% in 2025, down from 43.2% in 2024 and 48.2% in 2023. Burnout is easing, but the documentation load behind it has not gone away.
Two data points frame the problem:
- AMA workweek analysis. Physicians reported a 57.8-hour work week in 2024, including about 13 hours of indirect patient care such as order entry, documentation, and results review. In the same data, 20.9% logged more than eight hours of "pajama time" in the electronic health record (EHR = electronic health record) outside normal work hours.
- Annals of Family Medicine, "More Tethered to the EHR" (2024). Across 141 academic primary care physicians tracked from 2019 to 2023, EHR time per eight hours of scheduled appointments rose by 28.4 minutes, an increase of 7.8%.
When the busywork grows faster than clinical time, tools that shrink documentation become the obvious first purchase. That is exactly where the adoption numbers concentrate.
Ambient AI scribes: the fastest-moving category
Of all the tools, ambient AI scribes - software that listens to the visit and drafts the note - are spreading fastest. In Menlo Ventures' "2025: The State of AI in Healthcare," a survey of more than 700 healthcare executives fielded in August and September 2025, respondents at large health systems estimated ambient scribe adoption at about 35% today.
The outcome data explains the pull. A 2025 study published in JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association), cited by the American Hospital Association, reported:
- Emory Healthcare: a 30.7% increase in documentation-related well-being associated with ambient documentation technology.
- Mass General Brigham: a 21.2% reduction in burnout prevalence after 84 days of ambient documentation use.
- A five-site academic study: 13.4 fewer minutes of total EHR time and 16.0 fewer minutes of documentation time.
Those are named health systems and a peer-reviewed journal, not vendor claims, which is part of why this category has momentum. For a plain-language walkthrough of how the technology drafts a note from the conversation in the room, see Ona's guide to the ambient AI scribe and automated charting, or the ambient scribe feature page.
AI for scheduling, phones, and administrative automation
The AMA data also points to where growth goes next. When physicians were asked in 2024 where AI could help most, 57% named "addressing administrative burden through automation" - the single top-ranked opportunity, ahead of purely clinical uses.
That category covers scheduling, intake, insurance eligibility checks, and the front-desk phone line. AI phone agents, often called AI receptionists, are an emerging tool built to answer calls, book against a live calendar, and route urgent issues to a human. Because these systems touch patient access and revenue directly, they tend to be the next step a practice takes after it has stabilized documentation. You can see one implementation on Ona's AI receptionist feature page.
The through-line across every dataset is consistent: clinicians adopt AI first where paperwork is heaviest, then extend it into admin and front-office work as confidence grows.
AI adoption statistics at a glance
| AI-adoption statistic | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Physicians using AI professionally (2026) | 81% | American Medical Association, 2026 Physician Survey on Augmented Intelligence |
| Physicians using AI, 2023 then 2024 | 38% then 66% | American Medical Association |
| Average AI use cases per physician (2026) | 2.3 | American Medical Association |
| Physicians ranking "administrative burden through automation" as AI's top opportunity (2024) | 57% | American Medical Association |
| Large health systems' estimated ambient AI scribe adoption (2025) | ~35% | Menlo Ventures, "2025: The State of AI in Healthcare" |
| Increase in documentation-related well-being with ambient documentation, Emory Healthcare | 30.7% | JAMA study, 2025 (via American Hospital Association) |
| Reduction in burnout prevalence after 84 days of ambient documentation, Mass General Brigham | 21.2% | JAMA study, 2025 (via American Hospital Association) |
What the trends mean for your practice
Two things stand out. First, AI in medical practices is no longer early - a majority of physicians already use it, and the fastest growth is in documentation and administrative automation, not experimental clinical features. Second, buyers increasingly prefer systems where these capabilities share one patient record rather than bolting separate point tools onto a legacy platform, because every extra integration is another place data can fall through.
That preference is the design idea behind Ona, an AI-native, all-in-one practice management platform that combines CRM (customer relationship management), EHR, and revenue cycle management (RCM = revenue cycle management) with an ambient scribe, automated charting, and a 24/7 AI receptionist in one system. AI features are included in the base plan at no extra cost. To compare how the newer AI-native systems differ from legacy EHRs, see Ona's guide to the best AI-native practice management platforms.
Frequently asked questions
How many clinics use AI in 2026?
There is no single clinic-level count, but the best physician-level proxy comes from the American Medical Association: 81% of physicians reported using AI professionally in its 2026 survey, up from 66% in 2024 and 38% in 2023. Because a practice counts as an AI user once any one clinician adopts any one tool, practice-wide adoption is lower than the 81% headline.
What is the most common use of AI in medical practices?
Documentation. Ambient AI scribes and automated charting are the most widely deployed clinical use, and when the American Medical Association asked physicians in 2024 where AI could help most, 57% named addressing administrative burden through automation, the single top-ranked opportunity.
How fast are ambient AI scribes being adopted?
Ambient AI scribes are the fastest-moving category. In Menlo Ventures' 2025: The State of AI in Healthcare, a survey of 700+ healthcare executives fielded in August and September 2025, respondents at large health systems estimated ambient scribe adoption at about 35% today.
Does AI reduce physician burnout?
Named studies show a measurable link. A 2025 study published in JAMA, cited by the American Hospital Association, reported a 30.7% increase in documentation-related well-being at Emory Healthcare and a 21.2% reduction in burnout prevalence at Mass General Brigham after 84 days of ambient documentation use. Overall US physician burnout also fell to 41.9% in 2025 per the American Medical Association.
Are AI features expensive for a small practice?
Not necessarily. Pricing varies by vendor, so check each vendor's current pricing. On Ona, for example, AI features are included in the base plan at no extra cost, and practices can start on a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
Next step
Want to see what AI-native looks like in day-to-day practice? Book a 15-min walkthrough - no obligation and we will show you ambient charting, the AI receptionist, and the full patient record in one place. You can also start the 14-day free trial with no credit card and keep your data if you decide to stay.
Written by
Ona Health team