Before your next clinical AI demo, ask the vendor to show what happens when information is missing, an answer is wrong, or a reviewer disagrees. Those moments reveal how much work your team will actually need to do.

Choose one task your team performs regularly and ask the vendor to demonstrate it from start to finish, using synthetic or appropriately authorized test data. These five requests can help you assess whether the tool fits your workflow and deserves a closer evaluation.

1. Show Us What Happens When Information Is Missing

Ask the vendor to run a task with an incomplete input. For patient matching, that might be a record missing a laboratory result needed to assess an eligibility criterion. For document drafting, it could be a source that leaves an important requirement unclear.

Look for whether the tool identifies the gap, explains what remains uncertain, and directs the issue to someone who can resolve it. A useful output should make missing information visible rather than quietly fill it in or present an unsupported conclusion.

Ask: “Can you show us what the user sees, and what they should do next?”

2. Show Us Where This Answer Came From

Choose one recommendation or generated statement and ask the vendor to trace it to the supporting record, document, or passage. Then ask how the user can confirm that the source is current and appropriate for the task.

Watch the steps involved. If checking a result requires opening several systems and searching through documents manually, the tool may leave much of the verification work untouched. A source link is helpful only when it supports the specific claim being reviewed.

Ask: “Can our reviewer check this answer without repeating the original research?”

3. Show Us How a Person Corrects the Result

Ask a reviewer to reject a recommendation or revise a generated draft during the demonstration. Follow the correction through the workflow: what gets saved, who sees it, and whether the original output remains distinguishable from the approved version.

Also clarify what happens to feedback. A correction might update only the current document, enter a quality-review queue, or inform a later system improvement. Those are different outcomes, and users should understand which one applies.

Ask: “Where does this correction go, and how do you prevent the unapproved version from being used?”

4. Show Us the Handoff Into Our Existing Work

Ask the vendor to continue beyond the attractive output screen. A patient match needs to reach an authorized coordinator, a draft needs to enter a review process, and a flagged issue needs an owner.

Have the vendor distinguish what works today from what requires configuration, custom integration, or future development. Count the manual steps that remain, including copying information, entering it again, sending notifications, and checking whether someone acted.

Ask: “Which steps will our staff still perform, and where will they perform them?”

5. Show Us What Happens When the Tool Cannot Finish

Ask what happens if a source system is unavailable, a document cannot be processed, or the task stops halfway through. The demonstration should make clear how users learn about the problem and determine which actions were completed.

Look for a defined recovery path: who takes over, what information they receive, and how duplicate or incomplete work is avoided. This becomes especially important when the tool can take actions across systems rather than simply generate a draft.

Ask: “How would our team recover without losing track of what happened?”

Turn the Demo Into a Useful Decision

For each demonstration, record what worked, what required human effort, and what remains unproven. Involve someone who performs the task today so the evaluation reflects daily work as well as technical capability.

These checks do not replace validation, security review, or other purchasing requirements. They help you decide what deserves further testing and what evidence to request before committing.

Continue the Conversation at SCOPE Summit Europe

Bring these questions to SCOPE Summit Europe, October 13–14 in Barcelona. Next week’s program includes AI governance, operational readiness, clinical data strategy, and AI innovation, with opportunities to discuss implementation with peers and technology providers.

Explore the program and register for SCOPE Summit Europe.