With the AI landscape changing constantly, health systems need to watch their steps when applying the technology to clinical pathways.
Health systems should proceed cautiously in adopting AI tools, according to a top executive at UMass Memorial Health.
HealthLeaders is conducting its AI in Clinical Care Mastermind program through December. The program brings together nearly a dozen healthcare executives to discuss their AI strategies and offerings. As part of the program, each of the panelists are talking with HealthLeaders about the use of AI in clinical care.
The pace of change in AI is so fast that health systems must watch their steps as they adopt AI tools, says Eric Alper, MD, chief quality officer and chief clinical informatics officer at UMass Memorial.
"There are so many AI platforms that are being developed at this point that we must make good decisions about what platforms and models to implement," he says.
Healthcare leaders need to be smart about evaluation, and they need to understand where they are going to achieve the greatest value from AI, Alper says.
But first, he says, they need to establish a governance strategy.
"There is so much happening so fast in this space, including regulations, guidelines, and tools that are being released,” he says. “That is going to continue to evolve. So, you must have your set of experts lined up as more AI tools are released and there are changes in the environment."
UMass Memorial has established an AI governance committee specifically designed to help conduct the adoption and implementation of AI in clinical care.
"We are establishing a policy and a process for working through the different kinds of AI tools that are being requested at the organization," Alper says. "The AI governance committee will help us implement AI tools in the safest way."
The governance committee has several representatives from key areas at the health system, including clinicians, IT staff, legal team members, risk management staff, ethicists, and people who are focused on health equity.
"Choose wisely and do your due diligence," Alper says.
Eric Alper, MD, is chief quality officer and chief clinical informatics officer at UMass Memorial Health. Image courtesy of UMass Memorial Health.
UMass Memorial's AI tools
So far, the AI program that is having the biggest effect on clinical care teams at UMass Memorial is one that enables ambient listening documentation, according to Alper. At least 150 clinicians are using Nuance’s Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX) tool.
During the clinician-patient encounter, the clinician first asks for the patient’s permission to use the tool, which is integrated into the Epic EHR. After the clinical encounter is done, the documentation note appears in the patient's chart within seconds.
"The people who are embracing DAX have been saying that it is transformative for them," Alper says. "They are finding it provides high-quality documentation with a lot less effort."
Another program, Alper says, uses AI for retina screening.
"We have been working with a company called AEYE Health," he says. "They are capturing retinal images of patients in the primary care setting, then they do AI image recognition to see whether there are any signs of diabetic retinopathy. If there are signs, a referral is made to an ophthalmologist."
UMass Memorial is also using AI in radiology, where the health system is working with Aidoc.
"They have put in place about 17 different models to look for findings on radiology images to try to identify those findings earlier as well as to help the radiologists to make sure they see critical findings that may come up," he says. "It helps us take care of patients more safely."
Beyond working with vendors, UMass Memorial is collaborating with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop an AI tool that predicts hospital length of stay and monitors patient deterioration.
"Almost all of the AI that we are using has been developed by someone else," Alper says. "We are building on top of these AI tools and configuring them. The only AI tool that we have created within UMass Memorial has been the tool for predicting length of stay, which we are still developing and evaluating."
The HealthLeaders Mastermind program is an exclusive series of calls and events with healthcare executives. This Mastermind series features ideas, solutions, and insights on excelling in your AI programs. To inquire about participating in an upcoming Mastermind series or attending a HealthLeaders Exchange event, email us at exchange@healthleadersmedia.com.
Christopher Cheney is the CMO editor at HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Health systems need to be smart about AI evaluation, and they need to understand where they are going to achieve the greatest value from AI.
It is important for health systems to establish governance structures before they go down the AI path.
Ambient listening documentation can have a transformative impact on clinicians.