What healthcare practices should know before buying AI

Name the task, not the technology

“We want AI” is not a requirement. “We want after-hours inquiries answered within five minutes” is. The second can be evaluated; the first cannot.

Write the task down before the first demo, and evaluate every option against it — including options that are not AI.

Questions worth asking

What happens when the tool is unsure? Who sees the conversation? Where does the data live, and what is retained? What does it write back into the practice management system, and what does a human still have to re-enter?

That last question decides whether the tool removes work or adds a ninth login.

Patient information deserves a separate conversation

Any tool that touches patient communication may handle protected information. That has obligations attached, and the answer “it's encrypted” does not address them.

The Practice Check itself is deliberately outside this boundary: we do not request or process patient health information at all.

Run a bounded trial

Pick one measurable number, one time window, and one person responsible for reading the result. A trial without a stated success condition tends to become a renewal.