Artificial intelligence (AI) has great potential to improve the efficiency and safety of medical history-taking and triage in primary care. Despite this, there is a lack of knowledge about the practical implementation of AI systems for these purposes. This study explores healthcare leaders’ experiences of barriers to implementing an AI application to automate history-taking and triage in Swedish primary care, as well as the actions they took to overcome these barriers. In addition, the study aims to provide insights that can guide the development of AI implementation strategies for healthcare. The study involved interviews with 13 healthcare leaders representing seven primary care units in three regions in Sweden. The analysis identified barriers to implementation that the leaders encountered in three areas: 1) healthcare professionals, 2) organization, and 3) technology.

The first area included professional skepticism and resistance, the second included adapting traditional care units for digital care, and the third included lack of functionality and system integration of AI applications. To overcome these obstacles, leaders took steps to 1) manage inexperience and fear and reduce professional skepticism, 2) align implementation with digital maturity and guide patients toward digital care, and 3) improve AI applications and adapt to current AI application development. The study provides valuable insights into the implementation of AI to automate history-taking and triage in primary care, based on the experiences of healthcare leaders. While there was been progress in overcoming professional and organizational barriers, unresolved technical complexities highlight the importance of AI implementation strategies that consider how leaders manage AI implementation in practice. This underscores the importance of a holistic approach to the successful implementation of AI in healthcare.