Clinical AI Has Boomed. A New Stanford-Harvard State of Clinical AI Report Shows What Holds Up in Practice.

Clinical AI Has Boomed A New Stanford-Harvard State of Clinical AI Report Shows What Holds Up in Practice. January 15, 2026 - By Rebecca Handler Artificial intelligence is no longer a speculative force in medicine. It is already embedded in everyday care. AI systems flag hospitalized patients at risk of deterioration, assist radiologists reading mammograms, draft clinicians’ notes, route patient messages, and increasingly interact directly with patients through chatbots and digital assistants. In recent months, the pace and visibility of these deployments have accelerated sharply. OpenAI announced ChatGPT for Health, positioning a general-purpose language model as a tool for health-related information and patient interaction. Utah just began piloting AI-supported prescribing and clinical decision systems, raising questions about how algorithmic recommendations intersect with clinician judgment and liability. OpenEvidence, an AI-powered medical evidence platform designed primarily for clinicians and health professionals, has become a dominant player in point-of-care decisions, underscoring the fact that doctors are often bypassing traditional IT gatekeepers to use AI in clinical care. At the federal level, the FDA signaled a loosening of regulatory oversight for certain categories of clinical decision support software, shifting more responsibility to developers and health systems to ensure safety and effectiveness. Taken together, these developments mark a turning point. AI...