Understanding Hospital Administrators’ Perspective on Ai Implementation in Healthcare: A Qualitative Inquiry

Structured Abstract Purpose: The study explores the determinants of AI technology adoption from the perspective of hospital administrators in Indian healthcare organizations. Methodology: The qualitative study adopted the E-Delphi technique of interviewing hospital administrators. NVIVO12 software has been used for transcribing the responses. Content analysis was done based on Leximancer software. Findings: Besides significant competitive benefits in being the pioneers of AI adoption, the research findings indicate that reduced physician time and error rate, increased expertise, and interoperability are few benefits of AI adoption. Respondents also highlighted that technology infrastructure, regulatory standards, training, and development are the prerequisites for technology innovations in healthcare. Originality: This paper pioneers the identification of significant themes that influence AI adoption decisions by hospital administrators. This is a critical area and currently lacks detailed theoretical and empirical studies. Practical Implications: The research has important managerial and policy implications which would foster the use of AI in Indian healthcare. Based on the study’s findings, managers must be supported by top management in this initiative and should accordingly plan training and development of their staff and organise awareness drives for patients. Government policy support in the form of setting up the center of excellence for AI in healthcare, laying down a well-designed data protection architecture, fostering public-private-partnership, besides providing financial incentives can enhance AI-centric learning in healthcare.