Attitudes and Familiarity of Hospital Administrative and Medical Staff Towards Artificial Intelligence: A cross-sectional study in Turkey

Abstract

Artificial intelligence in healthcare holds great promise and continues to advance. Despite the clear potential of its integration into healthcare delivery and management, little has been investigated about the attitudes and familiarity of hospital administrative and medical staff towards artificial intelligence.

In this study, we cross-sectionally surveyed 152 administrative and medical staff who were employed in two private hospitals in the northern region of Türkiye with a structured questionnaire on their attitudes and familiarity regarding artificial intelligence in healthcare delivery and management.

Our results showed that only 8.6% of the 152 participants used AI in their work, and 13.8% followed ongoing AI developments in healthcare. Despite this limited engagement, the majority recognized AI’s potential benefits. For instance, 74.4% (with 23.0% partially agreeing) acknowledged its value in education and research, and similar high percentages supported its potential for workload reduction, learning enhancement, data processing, healthcare delivery, and innovation. In contrast, attitudes were divided regarding AI’s ability to reduce healthcare costs, minimize errors, offer a competitive advantage, assist in decision-making, and optimize healthcare resources. Concerns about job displacement were also prominent, with 45.4% agreeing and 35.5% partially agreeing that AI could lead to unemployment in healthcare. Statistical tests showed significant differences across occupations. Administrative staff demonstrated higher knowledge and optimism about AI applications in competitive positioning (94.2%) and customer relationship management (95.5%) compared to physicians (57.1% and 68.9%) and nurses (77.5% and 74.4%).

Despite general optimism about AI’s potential, both Turkish medical professionals and healthcare managers face notable gaps in familiarity and engagement, as well as concerns about decision-making, healthcare costs, and job displacement. To enhance staff readiness for AI adoption, Turkish hospitals must urgently address these challenges through structured AI training programs.