8 ways practice administrators can harness AI today

For years, artificial intelligence (AI) felt more like a buzzword than a practical tool in everyday medical practice, like futuristic window-dressing — interesting, flashy, even, but hardly essential.

That perception is changing quickly.

Today's cloud-based electronic health records (EHRs) often come with built-in machine-learning features, niche vendors offer solutions to fix problems like prior authorizations and voice-enabled "ambient" documentation tools are starting to make the physician note-taking grind feel optional.

Even small, independent clinics can now tap into AI-powered platforms, once reserved for large health systems — often for just a few dollars per health care professional per day.

Yet, diving into AI just because it's a hot topic won't deliver results. Practices that are seeing meaningful returns aren't chasing the latest tools — they're starting with the problems. They look closely at their biggest pain points — missed appointments, high denial rates, overworked staff — and choose a focused AI solution that targets one of those issues with clear, measurable goals.

Think fewer denials, shorter wait times, more revenue collected.

Once the first pilot works, they built from there. The examples in this slideshow show exactly how early adopters are using AI tools to improve practice performance, and how you can, too.