Patients Trust AI More Than Providers Expect

A West Health-Gallup survey finds primary care providers underestimate how comfortable patients are with AI making overridable clinical decisions.

Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence

Patients Trust AI More Than Providers Expect

Live Poll

Would you be comfortable with AI making a diagnosis if your doctor could override it?

West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America reported that 56% of patients would be comfortable with AI making diagnosis and treatment decisions that a provider can override, while only 36% of providers believe most patients would feel the same. The gap of 20 percentage points emerged in a survey of 5,330 U.S. adults who had visited a primary care provider in the past year.

Why it matters

Misjudging patient comfort could cause healthcare organizations to miss beneficial AI applications that align with patient preferences. Patient comfort falls sharply without provider review, from 56% to 9% for diagnosis and treatment decisions, underscoring the role of clinician oversight.

The paired survey of 5,330 U.S. adults and 1,007 primary care providers found that when AI only assists and the provider decides, provider estimates came within 2 points of patient responses for diagnosis and medication decisions. Providers underestimated patient comfort with AI imaging review by 11 points, and it remains unclear what drives that gap.

The players

West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America

A research center that paired patient and provider surveys on attitudes toward AI in healthcare.

The details

The West Health-Gallup Center paired patient and provider surveys on AI for the first time, asking patients and providers about AI in clinical roles. Providers reported widespread use of AI for work in the past year, with 89% reporting use, yet only 20% had received formal AI training.

August 2026: Surveys of 5,330 U.S. adults and 1,007 primary care providers were conducted.
Nov. 9, 2026: West Health-Gallup released its findings in a news release.

Roadmap

The West Health-Gallup Center's paired survey is the first to directly compare patient and provider views on clinical AI, extending its broader healthcare research. The results show that clinician oversight is the central condition under which patients accept AI in diagnosis and treatment.

For patients, the findings suggest that AI tools in diagnosis and medication decisions are more widely accepted when a provider remains involved and can override the system. Providers may need to consider how AI is presented to patients, since comfort levels differ substantially depending on whether a clinician reviews the output.

The takeaway

Patient acceptance of clinical AI depends heavily on whether a provider stays in the loop, so clinicians should weigh that oversight when evaluating these tools. Organizations that assume patients object to AI may overlook approaches that patients would actually welcome.