AI in Physician Relations
A Help or A Hindrance?
As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to make its way into nearly every corner of healthcare, physician relations teams are grappling with what it means for their work, both the opportunities and the uncertainties. During Endeavor’s Virtual Summit, physician relations leaders from across the country gathered to discuss the evolving intersection of AI and physician relations with expert insights from Jason Strimpel, Managing Director of AI and Advanced Analytics at Andersen Consulting.
From Hype to Application: What AI Is and What It Is Not
Jason began by acknowledging the “hype-fatigue” many professionals feel when it comes to AI. With terms like “ChatGPT,” “generative AI,” and “agents” flooding conversations, he emphasized the need to anchor AI in real-world utility. AI is not as a singular technology, but as a collection of computer systems that work together to simulate or enhance human decision-making and task execution.
Jason explained that the phrase “artificial intelligence” gained mainstream popularity with the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, which captured the public’s imagination by mimicking natural conversation. But beneath that surface lies a set of complex, often invisible processes—data ingestion, pattern recognition, language generation—all working to make tasks faster and more scalable.
Three Key Use Cases for Physician Relations and Marketing
Jason shared three foundational ways that AI is already reshaping physician outreach and healthcare marketing:
AI “Agents”
Jason touched on the emerging concept of agentic workflows, where AI performs not just one task, but a series of functions in sequence to accomplish more complex objectives. For example, instead of manually updating a physician list, researching recent publications, drafting outreach emails, and logging engagement activity, an AI agent could be instructed to perform all these steps on its own.
This type of multi-step automation is already being adopted in industries such as finance and research. We are in conversations now with healthcare systems using similar workflows for outreach, service line development, and relationship management.
Limitations and Risk
Jason acknowledged that AI systems are probabilistic, not deterministic—they won’t always give the same answer twice, and they may hallucinate or include inaccuracies if not guided carefully. That’s why he urged teams to think about AI through the lens of risk tolerance:
For marketing content, some variation and imperfection are acceptable.
For clinical content, the bar for accuracy must be much higher.
He emphasized the importance of understanding your AI’s data sources and encouraged attendees to act as both users and curators, feeding the system with high-quality prompts, documents, and context. Other best practices for validating outputs include using multiple models (such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini), cross-referencing outputs, uploading trusted source documents, and employing prompt engineering to guide tone and accuracy.
Streamlining Work:
Real-World Use Cases
Participants were particularly drawn to use cases that promised immediate time savings and actionable results. Some examples discussed:
Addressing the Human Connection
While automation presents clear gains, attendees also explored the potential erosion of trust when human nuance is lost. Over-reliance on AI in patient-facing roles, particularly when its outputs may seem impersonal or inaccurate, is cautioned. Jason suggested prompt engineering techniques to preserve one’s authentic voice, even in AI-generated emails.
Ultimately, most agreed that AI should serve as an assistant, not a replacement, freeing teams to focus more energy on high-value human interactions.
Resources Mentioned
AI Tools and Models
ChatGPT (OpenAI)
Claude (Anthropic)
Gemini (Google)
CoPilot (Microsoft): Integrated with Microsoft 365; uses OpenAI’s models
Prompt Guides
Open AI Guide
Anthropic’s Claude Prompt Help
Google Gemini Propmt Help
Tools for Strategic Planning
Maptitude: Mapping and location analytics software for geospatial planning
How Endeavor
Can Help
As a member of Andersen Consulting, the Endeavor Management team helps healthcare leaders navigate disruption with confidence. Our expertise spans both strategy design and implementation across marketing, physician relations, digital transformation, and AI enablement. Here’s how we can support your AI journey in physician relations:
Let’s Talk
We will help you overcome strategic challenges to realize the business value you seek.