AI Care Plans Cost More Than Doctors, Study Finds

The researchers took 200 real‑world clinical notes from patients seen in outpatient and emergency settings. They fed each note to 24 different AI assistants before the treating physicians wrote their own plans. Both the AI suggestions and the doctors’ recommendations were later parsed by three separate AI tools and priced using 2026 Medicare rates. The main goal was to see how much the AI‑suggested care cost compared with what the physicians ordered.

The numbers were striking. Across the 20 general AI models, the average bill for AI‑suggested care was about $314 per visit, while doctors’ plans averaged $97. That meant AI added roughly $216 per encounter, or about 3.2 times the physician cost. The extra expense broke down into about $105 for diagnostic tests and $111 for specialist referrals. AI also listed more new medications‑1.14 per visit versus 0.59 for doctors. The four medical‑specialty systems behaved similarly, costing 2.7 to 3.5 times more than the doctors’ plans.

The study also tried two different prompts. When the AI was told to be cost‑aware, its suggestions still ran about 2.5 times the doctors’ cost. A prompt that urged the model to be frugal cut the excess to about 1.4 times the physician cost, but the gap never disappeared. In two‑thirds of the cases, doctors ordered no diagnostic tests, yet every AI system proposed some testing, often the same standard panel.

The findings highlight that AI outputs are just suggestions, not final treatment orders. Clinicians should review the AI‑generated ideas before deciding what to do. The extra tests and referrals suggested by AI can drive up expenses, so human judgment remains essential. The study reminds providers that AI can help, but it should not replace the doctor’s final call.