Hospitals across the U.S. are incorporating artificial intelligence into administrative and clinical workflows, testing the waters with one of the most disruptive forces in any industry today. C-suite leaders are gathering information and beginning to forge a plan for safely leveraging AI to its full potential.
But the rapid pace of change means and increased costs of implementation ensures nobody is ahead of the curve for long.
Christine Larson, BSN, RN, vice president of Advocate Aurora Health Care in Downers Grove, Ill., and Milwaukee, said AI is one of the biggest disruptors in healthcare as it challenges traditional thinking about operations and clinical outcomes.
"Advocate Health is responding to the emerging AI technologies by embracing the changes, acknowledging that it is becoming an integral part of what we do, and fully educating our clinicians, leaders and others about how best to apply the technology in the most patient-centered and safest way possible," she said.
The next generation of clinicians are now being trained to incorporate AI into their care planning process to diagnose and treat chronic and acute conditions. The experts working with patients are in the best position to understand AI as it evolves and the best ways to leverage its power.
"AI is exciting and terrifying all at once," said Ms. Larson.
Chris Sacinski, vice president of IT applications at Advocate Health, based in Charlotte, N.C., views AI as a "true game changer if used appropriately." Advocate has embraced AI, Mr. Sacinski said, and It's a misconception that health systems are reluctant to adopt the technology.
"It does demand proper governance, thoughtfulness and controls, but if you wrap all that around an AI initiative, it can really transform a user experience and yield improvements in productivity," said Mr. Sacinski. "DAX Copilot is a great example of that for physician productivity here at Advocate Health."
One big watchout for health systems digging into AI is interoperability between assets within the healthcare system. Vishal Bhalla, senior vice president and chief experience officer at Advocate Health said the current lack of interoperability between AI-driven platforms could disrupt care coordination in the future.
"As departments partner with different vendors to develop AI solutions, each vendor using its own framework, these assets may deliver short-term ROI but will struggle to integrate, leading to long-term inefficiencies," said Mr. Bhalla. "As AI becomes more powerful by ingesting more data, the resulting increased switching costs could lock organizations into specific vendors."
D. Richelle Heldwein, chief risk and compliance officer at St. John's Health in Jackson, Wyo., also sees AI, and the associated costs, as predictor of successful organizations in the future.
"The cost of technology and the potential expectation that AI will set a new 'standard of care' for healthcare providers is a real potential and will need to be addressed not only from the standpoint of what and how to implement, but how to pay for implementation," said Ms. Heldwein.
St. John's piloted a program for a virtual assistant to listen in on physician appointments and then compose the history and physical exam, chief complaint, symptoms and plan of care, and then chart the note in the EHR. The program has big potential for time savings and improving accuracy in patient quotes, but could also lead to new errors in documentation and treatment, Ms. Heldwein said.