As more hospitals and health systems turn to artificial intelligence for purposes like answering patient portal messages and automating provider scheduling, many have been appointing leaders dedicated to AI in order to develop their own strategy around the use of the technology at their organizations.
"I think more hospitals and more health systems will follow the Department of Health and Human Services in creating this position, and I think it's going to be an important role in crafting an organization-wide AI strategy and delivering values across the entire health system value chain," Yuan Luo, PhD, chief AI officer at Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine, told Becker's.
Phoenix-based Mayo Clinic Arizona most recently appointed Bhavik Patel, MD, as its new chief AI officer.
In this role, Dr. Patel will focus on developing AI models that can automate information contained within medical information, such as medical images or texts, or that extract biomarkers.
UC Davis Health, based in Sacramento, Calif., also got its first chief AI adviser this year, appointing Dennis Chornenky to the role.
In this role, Mr. Chornenky is tasked with establishing an AI strategy for the health system as well as overseeing AI initiatives to ensure UC Davis Health is approaching the technology in a safe and ethical way.
"I think more organizations are realizing the importance of a role like this, as it can help align an enterprise on strategy, governance, adoption road maps, these kinds of things," Mr. Chornenky told Becker's. "So I think that's the opportunity."
Boston Children's hasn't appointed a dedicated chief AI officer or adviser to its health system, but has recently hired a prompt engineer to work on large language models such as ChatGPT.
The new hire, who works with the organization's Innovation and Digital Health Accelerator team, identifies use cases and trains its workforce on the most appropriate uses for the emerging technology.
"Artificial intelligence-based tools have the potential to increase efficiency and reduce burnout, and we believe one of the best ways to use these tools is to hire people who have expertise in the field," John Brownstein, PhD, chief innovation officer of Boston Children's, told Becker's. "This role can help Boston Children's build and engage with these models."
These new hires come at a time where healthcare is set to see a rapid growth of generative artificial intelligence in the next 12 to 18 months, according to Darrell Bodnar, CIO of Berlin, N.H.-based North Country Healthcare, and especially in the space of reducing administrative burdens such as EHR documentation.