Clinicians call for streamlining over sophistication as pharma companies tackle AI-innovation

Pharma companies should be using AI to streamline access to information and reduce the administrative burden, rather than developing fully embedded clinical tools, according to new research amongst senior healthcare providers (HCPs).

According to a survey amongst 225 senior clinicians across the UK, USA and Germany commissioned by Graphite Digital, a digital experience agency specialising in life sciences, only 3% agree that pharma-provided AI tools that support diagnosis or decision-making in specific therapeutic areas would make their clinical practice easier or more effective. 

Despite hesitation to apply AI tools for diagnostic decisions, 84% of HCPs report that they are currently experimenting with AI in their day-to-day roles, mirroring how LLMs are being used by consumers. Half (52%) are searching, summarising or analysing scientific literature, while 42% are using it to handle easy but time-consuming administrative tasks. 

Pharma companies have an opportunity to remove barriers to HCP engagement by introducing AI tools. Half (49%) of HCPs agree that they do not have time to read or engage with digital pharma content, and these frustrations are reflected in their suggestions of how pharma companies could be using AI to improve the digital product experience.

Half (52%) of HCPs agree that pharma companies could make their clinical practice easier and more efficient by reducing the administrative burden, while 35% would appreciate streamlining access to up-to-date information, treatment guidelines and evidence summaries would be useful. A third (32%) agreed that AI could help them to predict drug interactions or contraindications. 

Qualitative responses reveal that personalisation and stripping back content to its most useful form could enhance HCP engagement by making interactions faster, more accessible and more impactful. Clinicians reported that ‘[AI] should make things more efficient and personalised’, ‘make interactions more tailored to my practice’ and ‘streamline interactions to only useful information without promotional content.’ 

Rob Verheul, CEO at Graphite Digital, said: “AI creates two clear opportunities for pharma. One is improving how content and digital experiences work - moving from static content to more responsive, AI-enabled ways of accessing and applying trusted information. The other is ensuring its data and scientific voice are present in the AI tools clinicians are already using.

But both depend on getting the fundamentals right. Information needs to be useful, relevant, and usable in practice. When that happens, AI doesn’t replace clinical judgement, it supports clinicians in reaching more informed, impartial decisions.”

Pharma companies can learn from other industries, where AI is becoming commonplace for enhancing information gathering, navigation and personalisation. AI summaries of long-form content would help HCPs to assess relevance before committing time to engaging with long-form articles or in-depth evidence, while Agentic AI could be used to respond to specific questions, making it easier to find information and reducing browsing time. 

The benefits are clear, but pharma companies must apply appropriate measures to ensure that AI tools deliver accurate and reliable content, such as monitoring for hallucinations and using only a closed supply of content.