Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the future of healthcare, offering potential solutions to many of the sector’s most critical challenges, including workforce shortages, growing demand and operational inefficiencies. The 2025 Future Health Index, commissioned by Philips, highlights both the transformative capabilities of AI and the significant trust deficit it must overcome. While healthcare professionals express optimism about the benefits of AI, patients remain cautious, particularly when the technology is used in clinical decision-making. Addressing this trust gap is essential to ensure that AI fulfils its promise of improving outcomes, expanding access and supporting healthcare professionals.
AI’s Potential to Ease Systemic Pressure
Across the globe, healthcare systems are under increasing strain. Delays in care, particularly in specialist appointments, have become widespread. In over half the countries surveyed, patients report waiting two months or more to see a specialist. In nations like Canada and Spain, these delays can stretch to four months or longer. Such waiting times often result in worsening health conditions, with cardiology patients facing the greatest risk due to the time-sensitive nature of their treatment. One third of patients globally report that their condition deteriorated because they could not access medical care promptly, and more than one in four ended up in hospital as a consequence.
On the provider side, inefficiencies in data access and administrative burden are costing healthcare professionals significant time and contributing to burnout. Over three quarters of professionals report losing clinical time due to incomplete or inaccessible patient data, with a third losing more than 45 minutes per shift. This equates to over four weeks of lost time per year per clinician. Many report spending more time on paperwork now than they did five years ago, reducing their direct engagement with patients and increasing stress levels.
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AI presents a pathway to alleviate these systemic issues. Healthcare professionals believe AI can automate routine tasks, reduce procedure times and triage patients more efficiently. It is also seen as a tool for supporting less experienced staff, particularly in under-resourced areas. By boosting departmental capacity and helping clinicians spend more time with patients, AI has the potential to ease the pressures faced by both patients and providers.
A Widening Divide in Confidence
Despite AI’s potential, the path to widespread adoption is hindered by a lack of trust, particularly among patients. The 2025 Future Health Index reveals a consistent confidence gap: 79% of healthcare professionals believe AI can improve outcomes, but only 59% of patients share that view. Among patients over the age of 45, the gap widens to 25 percentage points. While patients generally support AI for administrative functions such as scheduling appointments, their comfort declines as the technology moves into clinical domains like diagnostics and treatment planning.
Patients express concern that AI may depersonalise healthcare, reducing the face-to-face time they have with clinicians. Half of all patients worry that increased reliance on technology could compromise the personal nature of care. Furthermore, they are hesitant to accept AI-written medical notes or diagnostic decisions, reflecting broader concerns about privacy, error risk and the erosion of human judgement in critical medical contexts.
Healthcare professionals, although more confident in AI’s clinical utility, are not without their concerns. Many feel that current AI tools are not designed with their daily workflows in mind, leading to usability issues and fragmented processes. Moreover, a significant number are uncertain about legal liability if AI systems make mistakes, and over 60% are concerned about data bias exacerbating health disparities. These apprehensions highlight the need for robust governance and human-centred design to ensure that AI supports, rather than complicates, clinical practice.
Towards Trust and Adoption
Closing the trust gap in healthcare AI requires a coordinated, multi-stakeholder approach. Patients indicate they are more comfortable with AI when it improves the quality of care, reduces the risk of errors and allows doctors to focus more on personal interaction. Interestingly, patients who report greater knowledge of AI also express a stronger need for transparency and data protection, suggesting that familiarity with the technology leads to more informed, and sometimes more critical, perspectives.
Trust in AI is also shaped by the messenger. Patients trust healthcare professionals far more than companies, media or social networks to provide reliable information about how AI is used in their care. This positions clinicians as key agents in building patient confidence. To support this role, healthcare professionals call for clear regulatory guidelines, transparent communication of AI decision-making and evidence-based validation of AI tools. They also advocate for continuous monitoring to ensure effectiveness and fairness over time.
While job security is a common concern in discussions about automation, it ranks low among healthcare professionals' priorities in this context. This suggests that many clinicians see AI not as a threat, but as a means to enhance their capabilities and reduce administrative fatigue. When thoughtfully integrated into existing systems and workflows, AI has the potential to empower healthcare professionals, not replace them.
AI holds immense potential to transform healthcare by improving access, reducing inefficiencies and enhancing clinical outcomes. However, its success hinges on trust. Patients need reassurance that AI will support, not replace, the human elements of care and healthcare professionals need systems that are reliable, transparent and aligned with their workflows. Bridging the trust gap requires designing AI with people at the centre, supported by clear guidelines, collaborative partnerships and a shared commitment to equity and transparency. If healthcare leaders embrace this approach, AI can become not just a tool for innovation, but a cornerstone of a more resilient and trusted healthcare system.
Source: Philips
Image Credit: iStock
