Artificial intelligence–enabled tools in cardiovascular medicine: A survey of current use, perceptions, and challenges

BACKGROUND: Numerous artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled tools for cardiovascular diseases have been published, with a high impact on public health. However, few have been adopted into, or have meaningfully affected, routine clinical care. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate current awareness, perceptions, and clinical use of AI-enabled digital health tools for patients with cardiovascular disease, and challenges to adoption. METHODS: This mixed-methods study included interviews with 12 cardiologists and 8 health information technology (IT) administrators, and a follow-on survey of 90 cardiologists and 30 IT administrators. RESULTS: We identified 5 major challenges: (1) limited knowledge, (2) insufficient usability, (3) cost constraints, (4) poor electronic health record interoperability, and (5) lack of trust. A minority of cardiologists were using AI tools; more were prepared to implement AI tools, but their sophistication level varied greatly. CONCLUSION: Most respondents believe in the potential of AI-enabled tools to improve care quality and efficiency, but they identified several fundamental barriers to wide-scale adoption.