AI won't strip healthcare of humanity, it might save it

There's a fear moving through hospitals, clinics, and the companies that serve them that I’ve noticed in my role at Gong and across my 15-year career in the healthcare industry. That fear is that AI (or any technology) threatens the human touch that makes healthcare personal.

It's understandable, but I think, unfounded. Through speaking with professionals in the healthcare industry, I’ve realized that what keeps them from connecting with patients is actually the administrative side of the job. It’s also where there’s a strong opportunity for AI to make a difference.

"Strip away the administrative burdens that eat into doctors hours that keep us on our screens instead of looking at faces. This is where AI could really help us,” said Dr. Lucy McBride, a primary care physician, on an episode of In Good Health. “So much of what we do in a day as primary care doctors does not require an MD and [AI] is already helping me in my practice,” she said.

The healthcare system in the United States is struggling, partly due to an ongoing shortage of healthcare workers. As a result, 66% of hospitals and health systems have operated below full staffing capacity at some point.

Federal workforce analysts project that by 2038, 30 out of 35 physician specialties will be short-handed, with more than 140,000 roles unfilled. Additionally, close to $496 billion is spent annually on billing and insurance-related administration in the U.S., with roughly half of that considered excess.

Claims adjudication alone runs providers about $25.7 billion, with an estimated $18 billion of it deemed unnecessary. Denied claims create an annual burden of $260 billion across the system. Hospitals spend more than $43 billion getting paid for completed care.

There’s a human cost in those numbers. Roughly 35% of nurses and 54% of physicians report burnout symptoms. Nearly half of physicians name administrative work as their single biggest source of burnout.

The paperwork isn't a side effect of the shortage, it's one of the drivers. Every hour a clinician stays after their shift due to short staffing, or spends fighting a claim, is one that makes the job less sustainable and pushes them to leave the field.

At its foundation, healthcare comes down to a patient and the provider(s) caring for them. Everything else, like the payers, the software, the supply chains, and the vendors, exists to make that one interaction possible. That human-to-human connection isn't a luxury in healthcare; it’s necessary for a quality experience.

That high-touch culture doesn't stop at the exam room. Healthcare providers expect it from the companies that sell to and support them.

If you sell medical devices, health IT, revenue cycle software, diagnostics, or clinical services, you know this.

Your clients want a rep who understands their business to guide staff through implementation and train them in person. Someone who can read the room and slow down when the charge nurse or the attending physician looks lost.

In healthcare, the relationship is the sale and the renewal. Providers expect the presence and care from their vendors that they show their patients. Companies that win in this space are those that act on that consistently at scale.

Healthcare clinicians are slow to adopt AI solutions, with only 16% currently using AI to inform their decision-making. Fear and hesitation associated with social, professional roles, and identity are part of their slow adoption.

Implementing any new operating system, let alone one involving AI, can raise suspicion. In an industry defined by human presence, AI can feel like a threat, not a solution. These feelings come from an honest place. If AI removes the human element from healthcare, what happens to medical professionals?

The key is to position the highest-value use of AI in healthcare as addressing the work that was already taking up time better spent with patients.

For every hour with a patient, clinicians can spend two on documentation and administrative tasks. This can lead to work after hours, too, the "pajama time" every clinician knows too well.

This limited availability reduces the time for human connection.

What if the role AI plays is to clear away what’s blocking in-person presence? It can be used for note-taking so the doctor can look the patient in the eye or automated claims and prior-auth workflows so the biller isn't spending the day on calls.

When physicians receive documentation support, they have more interaction time with patients. Texas Children's Pediatrics piloted AI note-taking with a small cohort and it worked so well that it's scaling to more than 250 pediatricians across more than 50 locations. Clinicians spend more time connecting with families and less time typing because AI gives them the chance to be more present.

Vendors selling to provider organizations are under the same pressure as the clinicians they serve. They're drowning in CRM updates, call notes, follow-up emails, and handoffs. The challenge, in part, is that this data is scattered, not centralized with an AI operating system like Gong.

Gong captures and analyzes every customer interaction, call, meeting, and email, and automatically provides insights and actions. On top of that, notes get written, the CRM gets updated, risk is flagged and the rep who used to spend an hour on data entry gets time back to guide implementation, or run the training that a healthcare buyer actually expects.

In other words, AI does for your team exactly what it should do for the clinician: it eliminates busywork to make room for human connection. That's not a threat to the high-touch model healthcare runs on, it's what makes the high-touch model sustainable at scale.

The workforce is shrinking and the administrative load is growing paired with significant burnout. You can’t hire your way out of that math nor can you ask an exhausted workforce to simply care harder.

Something must absorb the non-care workload. That "something" is AI, not as a replacement for the people at the heart of healthcare, but as a shield for them. Used well, it enables your teams to be more efficient and effective even with limited resources. And it protects the relationship the entire system is built on: a patient and their provider who has time, energy, and presence.

If you are ready to empower your team to do more with AI, Gong can help. Book a demo or take a product tour to see why companies like Moderna, GHX and Medallion choose Gong.