How AI Impacts the Latin American Healthcare Market

By Guillaume Corpart

Artificial intelligence (AI) may be a young and developing technology, but it is already impacting our lives in several important ways. The healthcare market is no exception to these developments. It’s currently having a significant impact on how diseases are diagnosed, how patient information is managed, and various other aspects of modern health care. These current AI solutions are only the beginning for an emerging industry.

Survey Results

To gain a greater understanding of the reach of AI in the Latin American and Spanish healthcare markets, Fine Research recently surveyed 1,352 doctors across Latin America and Spain to determine their current awareness and use of AI tools and technologies, as well as their thoughts about the future of the technology moving forward. Here’s an overview of the results.
 

Current Use

One surprising finding of the survey data regarded how frequently doctors are already making use of AI. For example, a strong majority of Latin American doctors reported using AI tools in some aspect of their work or life, while an almost equal number of that same pool of doctors reported using the technology specifically for their medical practice (refer to the table below). Some of the AI tools that doctors reported using included chatbots or virtual assistants, medical instruments, diagnostic algorithms, bibliography searches and more.

Interestingly, doctors did not have the same confidence in their own familiarity with AI tools as they did with actively using them. The Latin American doctors reported that they were very familiar or quite familiar with AI tools only 30% of the time. Meanwhile, 46% of doctors self-reported as being somewhat familiar with AI tools. To that end, the vast majority of Latin American doctors felt that they needed additional training to use AI effectively in their practice.

Overall, optimism over the impact of AI on society and medicine was quite high among the group of 1,225 Latin American doctors who were surveyed. Nearly 70% reported that they believed AI has had a positive impact both on society and on medicine thus far.

Use of AI in Latin America

• 55% – Percentage of LatAm doctors who already use AI for some aspects of work or life
• 53% – Percentage of LatAm doctors who use AI in their medical practice
• 32% – Percentage of LatAm doctors who report being very familiar or quite familiar with AI
• 46% – Percentage of LatAm doctors who report being somewhat familiar with AI
• 80% – Percentage of LatAm doctors who think that additional training in AI would be very necessary or quite necessary
• 50% – Percentage of doctors who use AI who use a chatbot or personal assistant in their practice
• 12% – Percentage of doctors who use AI who use a medical instrument with AI technology in their practice
• 67% – Percentage of LatAm doctors who think AI has had a very good or good impact on medicine

Future Adoption

Clearly, these numbers indicate that AI may be here to stay in some capacity. But it was also interesting to see some of the doctor’s viewpoints on the future of AI in their profession. For example, 80% of Latin American doctors reported that AI will either completely transform or partially transform their profession in the years ahead. When asked how it would change, around 40% expected positive change, while more than 50% expected the change to be partly positive and partly negative.

Patient perception of AI, of course, will be a key in future adoption of the technology across the industry. When doctors were asked about their patients, their responses were slightly less optimistic. Close to 40% of Latin American doctors said their patients would feel very comfortable or quite comfortable with the use of AI during a consultation, while 36% reported that they would be somewhat comfortable.

Doctors also believe that AI will impact the way pharmaceutical reps interact with healthcare providers in the future. More than 50% of Latin American doctors believe that AI will transform how pharmaceutical reps conduct their visits significantly over the next decade.

The Future of AI in Latin America

• 80% – Percentage of LatAm doctors who believe that AI will completely transform or partially transform their practice in the future
• 41% – Percentage of LatAm doctors who expect AI to create positive changes in their practice
• 53% – Percentage of LatAm doctors who expect AI to create both positive and negative changes in their practice
• 37% – Percentage of LatAm doctors who think their patients would be very comfortable or quite comfortable with the use of AI tools during a consultation
• 36% – Percentage of LatAm doctors who think their patients would be somewhat comfortable with the use of AI tools during a consultation
• 56% – Percentage of LatAm doctors who believe that AI will transform how pharmaceutical reps conduct their visits significantly over the next decade

Fears & Expectations

Overall, the survey showed that Latin American physicians have a lot of differing opinions on AI, both positive and negative. In general, they believe that the technology will have a significant impact on their practice in the coming years. While the views skewed slightly optimistic, some concerns still exist.

While doctors were optimistic about the use of AI to speed up appointments and diagnoses, fears still exist about the tools undermining the human relationships that patients have with their doctors. Some doctors also reported fears surrounding patients using the tools to self-diagnose. In short, it seemed that many doctors were comfortable with the value of AI as a supportive measure in improving care, as long as the technology did not impact the bond between patients and their doctors.

Put it all together, and the stance among the 1,225 Latin American doctors surveyed on AI looks like this.

The Stance of Latin American Doctors on AI

• 16% – Strong support for the implementation of AI solutions
• 34% – Moderate support for the implementation of AI solutions
• 48% – Require more information before taking an active stance on AI solutions
• 1% – Oppose the adoption of AI solution in their medical practice

Key Takeaways for Health Care Companies

For pharmaceutical reps, equipment providers, and other players in the Latin American health care market, the results of this survey of Latin American and Spanish doctors clearly indicate the promise of emerging technologies in the Latin American health care market. The majority of doctors are already beginning to use these tools, and they indicated comfort with using them with their patients, which indicates an openness to AI tools and technologies.

The 80% of Latin American doctors who said that additional AI training is very necessary or quite necessary also stands out. If you have AI tools in your product portfolio, this indicates that proper training for using these tools successfully should be a core part of your business plan.

Overall, the study results seemed to skew, if only slightly, toward optimism for AI, a willingness to adopt and use the tools, and an understanding that AI could transform doctors’ medical practices in the future. All of these key survey indicators lean toward doctors being open to learning more and adopting AI tools into their practices in the years ahead.

Next Steps

Contact GHI to learn more about healthcare trends and their potential impact on the medical device and equipment industry in Latin America. Our team of researchers can provide the strategic analysis you need to gain valuable insights to support strategic decision-making in your industry.