Bridging perspectives: Success factors for AI implementation in healthcare from healthcare professionals and AI experts

Objective The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare offers opportunities to transform patient care, improve efficiency, and support clinical decision-making. Yet, its implementation is hindered by technical, organizational, and collaborative challenges. This study explores the key success factors for sustainable AI adoption from the perspectives of healthcare professionals (HCPs) and AI experts, with the aim of identifying alignments and gaps that influence collaboration and sustainability. Methods Guided by the NASSS framework, semi-structured interviews were conducted with four HCPs and five AI experts with experience related to AI technologies in the healthcare sector. Thematic analysis was applied to examine stakeholder perspectives, focusing on gaps and alignments between stakeholders and identifying common patterns. Results Transparency leading to trust was the most emphasized factor by both AI experts and HCPs. Alignments were also found in recognizing the importance of interorganizational cooperation, demand-side value, scope of use, usability, responsibility and redefining the roles. Gaps included challenges in cooperation with HCPs, misunderstandings between stakeholders and the need for interdisciplinary experts, insufficient training, concerns over data quality and privacy, and limited attention to usability. Based on the found patterns, a framework is proposed to strengthen collaboration between AI experts and HCPs, enabling effective and sustainable AI implementation in healthcare. Conclusion This study extends the NASSS framework to a dual-stakeholder context, offering insights into the alignments and gaps between HCPs and AI experts. The proposed framework supports improved collaboration, guiding healthcare professionals, AI developers, and managers toward effective, sustainable AI implementation and fostering mutual understanding for successful adoption.