New York City-based NewYork-Presbyterian has approximately 120 AI initiatives underway across clinical and nonclinical areas.
Peter Fleischut, MD, group senior vice president and chief information and transformation officer at NewYork-Presbyterian told Becker's that the health system has a range of AI-driven initiatives dedicated to reducing the burden of disease. Dr. Fleischut provided insights into specific projects revolving around AI, ethical considerations of the technology and its transformative potential in healthcare.
Question: Can you provide examples of specific AI-driven initiatives or projects that NewYork–Presbyterian has planned for 2024?
Peter Fleischut: We will continue to activate a wide range of AI programs to reduce the burden of disease via diagnosis and treatment. One example is the work our cardiologists are doing with data scientists to develop an algorithm that can help diagnose heart conditions such as structural heart disease during a routine, inexpensive EKG. These heart conditions are typically diagnosed on the echocardiogram, a far more expensive medical test.
Q: Where does NYP see the most opportunity for AI? And how many AI initiatives is NYP working on?
PF: We hope to continue to discover new disease areas where AI can help identify devastating conditions in patients earlier as well as reduce friction for patients and providers along the care journey. NewYork-Presbyterian has approximately 120 AI initiatives underway across clinical and nonclinical areas.
Q: Does NYP have an AI strategy to ensure the technology is being rolled out ethically?
PF: It's our responsibility as leaders to make sure AI doesn't worsen healthcare disparities. We care for one of the world's most diverse patient populations, so it's critical that the algorithms guiding our AI programs are built on data that is fair, equitable and reflective of the patients whom we treat.
Our health system also has a process in place to review all new technologies for cybersecurity concerns and algorithmic biases. We have removed algorithms from our health system where we felt they were biased in patient treatment.
Finally, we must make sure patients fully understand how their data and information is being used. We are rolling out trainings to providers so they can help educate patients about what AI can and cannot do, with the aim of increasing their trust in the process.
Q: Can you elaborate on the goals and objectives that NewYork–Presbyterian aims to achieve through the implementation of AI?
PF: At NewYork-Presbyterian, we are eager for faster adoption of AI and want to lead the country in reducing the burden of disease. Closer collaboration between data scientists and physicians will crack the code on some of the unanswerable questions our industry is grappling with, whether what causes cardiac death or how we can predict a new mother's risk for debilitating mood disorders.
However, the power of this technology is only as strong as the talent, expertise and data "infrastructure" behind it. We are always working to build the best culture behind the technology – which is driven by our people.
Q: What excites you the most about AI in the healthcare space?
PF: The ability to apply breakthrough AI innovations to, for example, diagnose structural heart disease within minutes, and then extend the science to other disciplines such as oncology and neurology, will be game-changing. Meeting these big clinical needs with medical technology is incredibly exciting, but it won't happen overnight. We will always remain thoughtful about how we use AI to take care of our patients.