The Economics of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: Cutting Costs and Transforming Care
Theo Garino, The Latin School of Chicago, Junior, Spring 2026
As Artificial Intelligence becomes more incorporated into healthcare systems, its role is now expanding from experimental application to everyday tasks. Whether streamlining note-taking or accelerating disease diagnoses, AI is making a lasting mark on the healthcare industry.
One of the most beneficial effects of AI adoption is its ability to reduce administrative burdens. As Dr. Samir Atiya, a clinical informatics fellow at the University of Chicago Medicine, explains, “There’s ambient AI for notes so clinicians can focus on patients and they don’t have to worry about writing.” This allows doctors to spend more time assessing patients. In fact, 57% of physicians view addressing administrative burden through automation as the biggest area of opportunity for AI (American Medical Association, 2026).
Beyond efficiency, AI is also drastically improving diagnosis times for diseases by analyzing symptoms to identify a specific disease. Anne Edwards, a philanthropic supporter for genetic research initiatives at Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital, explained, “It used to take almost 6 months [to get disease results], and now they’re getting results in about a week.”
On the administrative side, Dr. Atiya notes the potential of AI adoption, saying, “If we can get AI to maybe weed out a lot of stuff, and have people that are highly skilled and highly paid, do more of that thing, then more work can get done, and theoretically prices should come down.”
However, despite this potential, many hospitals still have concerns about AI adoption. In a study of 43 healthcare systems on AI adoption opinions, 77% of the systems noted that immature adoption of AI was a barrier to effectiveness, and 47% said they had concerns with the cost of adopting these AI tools (Poon et al., 2025). At the same time, certain AI tools like Ambient Notes have already proven beneficial, with 100% of respondents reporting adoption of ambient documentation and 53% reporting a high degree of success (Poon et al., 2025).
When asked about people’s assumptions of AI, Dr. Atiya said, “I don't see it as replacing people in healthcare because I think humans like the humanistic approach to things rather than an AI model.” As AI continues to evolve, its role in healthcare will expand, bringing improvements to patient care and streamlining the overall experience.
Sources:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12202002/#:~:text=Across%20the%2043%20responding%20health,and%20regulatory%20uncertainty%20(40%25).
Interviewees:
Samir Atiya, MD, Pathologist and Clinical Informatics Fellow at University of Chicago Medicine, Samir.Atiya@uchicagomedicine.org
Anne Edwards, Philanthropic Supporter at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
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