Scientific trust and access equity: The real challenges of artificial intelligence in medical practice
Despite the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence in various productive sectors, digitalization in medical practice progresses at uneven rates. An international survey conducted by the Doctoralia platform among 1,234 doctors from Brazil, Mexico, Spain, and Italy revealed that 47% of healthcare professionals currently do not use any clinical support tools in their daily consultations.
From general AI to specialized assistants like Noa Evidence
Among the 53% of doctors who do use technological support solutions, the most utilized tools are general-use generative artificial intelligence platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. However, the survey highlights that the determining factors for a professional to choose and adopt a clinical tool are scientific backing, trust in information, speed, and ease of use.
To meet these demands for medical rigor and avoid interruptions in daily practice, platforms like Doctoralia —which has nine years of presence in Mexico and a network of over 390,000 connected professionals in the country— have developed solutions like Noa Evidence. This AI-powered research assistant allows specialists to quickly access verified medical evidence and synthesize clinical guidelines in real time to strengthen clinical decision-making.
In this regard, Adrián Alcántara, General Director of Doctoralia Mexico, emphasized the need to focus innovation on real utility for the consultation:
"The conversation about innovation in health should not focus on what technologies we are capable of creating, but on how we can make them useful for those who are face-to-face with a patient every day. The real challenge is to turn technological advances into tools that meet concrete needs and can be responsibly integrated into medical practice".
Global R&D and infrastructure gaps in the Global South
The discussion about the adoption of digital health acquires strategic relevance in the context of the International Day of Science, Technology, and Innovation for the South (September 16), highlighting marked structural asymmetries:
- Concentration of R&D spending: According to United Nations data, high-income countries concentrate 77% of global spending on research and development, while low-income countries account for only 0.3%.
- Health researchers: In 2022, for every health researcher in a low-income country, there were 59 researchers in high-income countries.
- Disconnection and rural gap: The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) states that 2.2 billion people remained without Internet access in 2025. In Mexico, although INEGI reports that 83.1% of the population uses the Internet, penetration reaches 86.9% in urban areas, but drops to 68.5% in rural communities.
- National strategies: Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 129 countries already have a national digital health strategy.
From the editorial perspective of next+, the finding that almost half of doctors in key markets do not use clinical support tools confirms that the main barrier to Artificial Intelligence in health is not the speed of the algorithm, but the governance and reliability of medical evidence. As independent professionals rely on general use chatbots due to the lack of accessible specialized clinical solutions, the risks of bias or misinformation at the point of care will persist. Initiatives such as Doctoralia's Noa Evidence demonstrate that the strategic value of Health Tech lies in democratizing access to validated clinical guidelines, reducing the administrative burden on the physician to return the most valuable resource in healthcare: quality time with the patient.