Here's how AI tools are moving the needle in detecting colon cancer.
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are improving the effectiveness of colonoscopies, according to the CMO of GI Alliance.
Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common form of cancer among men and women in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths, the CDC says.
Colonoscopies are the most effective method to detect polyps in the colon that can progress into colon cancer, explains J. Casey Chapman, MD, CMO of GI Alliance, which features gastroenterology groups across the country.
"Colonoscopy is the best test we have—it is the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening as well as polyp detection," Chapman says. "There is nothing else that even comes close."
The main limitation for colonoscopies is related to the gastroenterologist workforce, according to Chapman.
"One of the limitations is that there are a lot of people who need an average-risk colonoscopy without enough people to do them," Chapman says.
With the shortage of gastroenterologists, it is imperative that colonoscopies are utilized appropriately and are done effectively, Chapman explains.
"No. 1, we have got to be sure that when we do a colonoscopy, it is sensitive to pick up polyps and colon cancer when they are present, and it is specific, meaning when colon cancer is there, we find it," Chapman says.
Polyp detection is crucial, according to Chapman.
"If you find a polyp, you want to make sure you bring that patient back for another colonoscopy at the correct interval," Chapman says. "If you don't find a polyp, you are very confident that the patient does not need to come back on a shortened interval."
J. Casey Chapman, MD, is CMO of GI Alliance. Photo courtesy of GI Alliance.
Adoption of AI tools
AI tools are making a difference in the detection of polyps in the colon, according to Chapman.
"AI has helped to start a bit of a renaissance of closing the gap for human error," Chapman says. "A gastroenterologist can miss a colon polyp. If that happens, there is an increased risk of interval colon cancer, which means you have cancer between the initial colonoscopy and the recommended second colonoscopy."
Several companies have developed computer-assisted devices that help detect colon polyps during a colonoscopy, Chapman explains.
"Basically, it is like having an extra set of eyes in the colonoscopy procedure to make sure there is fact-checking," Chapman says. "Where you see something, the AI will see it. Where you do not see something, the AI may show you there is something present."
The strength of AI in colonoscopies is going to progress as it teaches itself or as gastroenterologists teach the machine learning algorithms, according to Chapman.
"What we must do as human beings and the operator is make sure that what AI says is a colon polyp is a colon polyp, and it is getting better and better," Chapman says. "We also need to make sure when AI says there is no colon polyp there is actually no colon polyp. In other words, we still must make the ultimate decision, but AI does help to alert us that there could be danger."
The application of AI tools in colonoscopies is just beginning and exciting advances are on the horizon, Chapman explains.
"We are going to be able to utilize not only two-dimensional polyp detection as it exists today, but also move into three-dimensional spatial computing," Chapman says. "Not only are you going to see the polyp, but you are also going to be able to see it at a high image rate and in a three-dimensional fashion."
While AI has the potential to revolutionize colonoscopies, it is unlikely that AI will ever be able to conduct the procedure independently of a gastroenterologist, according to Chapman.
"The hard part would be patient buy-in. Patients probably would not want a machine doing their colonoscopy," Chapman says. "In addition, it takes about 10,000 colonoscopies to be really good at it because every colon is unique. If you are going to train AI to do colonoscopies, it is going to take hundreds of thousands of colonoscopies to train it."
Replacing the human touch in colonoscopies would be extremely difficult, Chapman explains.
"It is impossible to teach a machine trust and empathy," Chapman says. "When you are dealing with a person who might have colorectal cancer or colon polyps, the most important part of the entire process is the human-to-human relationship."
After screening for health-related social needs, health systems and hospitals can connect patients with community-based resources.
CMOs should be concerned that the health-related social needs of their patients are being met, according to a pair of experts.
Social determinants of health (SDOH) impact 80% of health outcomes, according to research. SDOH includes food insecurity, education level, transportation access, and economic standing.
There are several reasons why CMOs should be focused on making sure the health-related social needs of their patients are screened and addressed, according to Nebeyou Abebe, senior vice president of social determinants of health at Highmark, and Sally Kraft, MD, population health officer at Dartmouth Health.
"When people think about social determinants of health, they think about community programs and supplemental benefits. A third component that a lot of people do not pay attention to is medical cost reduction," Abebe says. "CMOs are tasked with medical cost reduction."
SDOH impacts patient engagement, Abebe explains.
"You need to be able to understand and identify when a patient has health-related social needs because they are a barrier for that individual from fully engaging in their care plan," Abebe says. "This is an opportunity for us to remove barriers to enable patients to fully engage in their health and well-being."
Regulatory compliance and payer contracts are related to screening and addressing SDOH, according to Kraft.
"Increasingly, we are seeing payers and regulators require screening for health-related social needs," Kraft says. "We can predict that soon there is going to be a requirement that you were able to meet your patients' identified health-related social needs. There are contracts that require that this work be done."
Addressing SDOH is also linked to the well-being of healthcare providers, Kraft explains.
"It is distressing professionally to have a patient before you and you cannot address the needs that are impacting their health," Kraft says. "Understanding social care needs and putting systems in place to respond to those needs will decrease the moral depression and moral injury that occurs for frontline staff."
Screening for SDOH
Screening for health-related social needs is the first step to addressing SDOH.
In 2019, Highmark and its health system, Allegheny Health Network (AHN), developed an evidence-based SDOH assessment tool for the payer's members and the health system's patients.
"We leveraged clinically validated screening questions to create a 13-question assessment covering social needs across several domains," Abebe says. "Through this assessment, we screen patients to identify their needs, then help to make connections to address these challenges."
There are several ways for AHN patients to complete the SDOH assessment, according to Abebe.
"The SDOH assessment may be completed through our AHN MyChart app before a visit, on a tablet in the waiting room, or a one-on-one interaction during an appointment," Abebe says. "We find that some patients enjoy the opportunity to complete the assessment on their own digitally, while others may not utilize technology the same way and may feel more at ease with someone asking them the questions."
Dartmouth Health started collecting information from patients about their health-related social needs in 2017, beginning in adult primary care clinics. The screening effort has since been implemented in other outpatient clinics and the inpatient setting.
At Dartmouth Health's outpatient clinics, which conducted 108,000 SDOH screens last year, patients complete the assessment tool through the health system's patient portal before an appointment or through a tablet when they come to a clinic.
"Patients' responses are secure, private, and voluntary," Kraft says.
In the inpatient setting at Dartmouth Health, SDOH screening is conducted by nurses or care managers.
"The care managers see patients to help organize care and understand whether there are needs that need to be met before the patient is discharged," Kraft says.
Addressing SDOH
Highmark and AHN use a community-support platform powered by findhelp to connect patients with community resources.
"The platform has a database of community-based organizations with resources that patients and members can access for free or at a reduced cost," Abebe says. "They can access resources such as food, housing, transportation, and utility assistance."
In addition, AHN has Healthy Food Centers and food prescription programs at six of the health system's 14 hospitals.
"A doctor can write a food script for the patient, and the patient can take the script to one of our Healthy Food Centers and access healthy food and additional resources to support both their food insecurity needs as well as their chronic condition needs," Abebe says.
Patients who have used the Healthy Food Centers have posted positive health outcomes, Abebe explains.
"Patients who have had a positive health outcome as it relates to our prescription food program include a drop in A1C of 1.28%, an average drop in body mass index of 2.04%, and an average drop in cholesterol of 44.7%," Abebe says.
In the inpatient setting at Dartmouth Health, care managers assist patients with making connections to resources in the communities where they live after they are discharged from the hospital.
"A resource that is used often is called 211, which is a centralized social care resource in New Hampshire," Kraft says.
In the outpatient setting at Dartmouth Health, such as primary care clinics, the health system employs community health workers and resource specialists to work with patients who have health-related social needs.
"They offer to meet with the patients to provide assistance with social needs," Kraft says. "They will meet with the patient, ask clarifying questions about the patient's social needs, then help patients identify goals, set goals, and meet those goals."
The community health workers and resource specialists try to equip patients with the skills necessary to address health-related social needs.
"The goal is to help patients meet their needs but not necessarily to do it for them," Kraft says. "We coach patients and help them learn problem-solving skills."
These community health workers are having an impact.
“In our most recent report, where we provided information on how well we did in 2024, we found that for community health workers that were working with patients and started an action plan to meet social needs, about 72% were completed," Kraft says.
Essential elements of physician leadership include listening skills, goal setting, the ability to make outcomes better, and providing good feedback, according to this CMO.
Physician leaders play a crucial role in the success of health systems and hospitals. They occupy key positions, including work as CMOs, department chiefs, and service line leaders.
RWJBarnabas Health takes an intentional approach to physician leadership development. Physician leaders have several essential qualities and characteristics, according to Andy Anderson, MD, MBA, CMO and chief quality officer at RWJBarnabas.
"Good physician leaders are excellent listeners, and they understand the key issues that their stakeholders are going through, including their physician colleagues, nurse colleagues, patients, and families," Anderson says. "They are listening, and they understand what the issues are and think about how they can make improvements."
A good physician leader tries to make outcomes better for patients and families as well as for their colleagues who work with them in health systems and hospitals, Anderson explains.
Effective physician leaders also are adept at goal setting in critical areas such as safety, quality, and patient experience, according to Anderson. They must be able to hold others accountable to achieve goals.
"They need to be able to influence their colleagues who work with them in health systems and hospitals to generate good outcomes," Anderson says. "Part of that is using data to demonstrate baseline performance and to track progress."
Strong physician leaders must also be able to get good feedback and provide guidance to help their physician colleagues improve performance at the frontlines, Anderson explains.
[SUBHED] Identifying physician leaders
RWJBarnabas energizes physicians to step up and self-select for leadership roles, according to Anderson.
"When a physician is interested in leadership, we would love to hear from them and encourage them," Anderson says.
The health system also monitors physicians to see how they behave in meetings and how they interact with their colleagues to identify future physician leaders, Anderson explains.
"When physicians show leadership potential, we ask them whether they are interested in taking on additional responsibility," Anderson says. "That can be progressive responsibility in terms of leading a committee or leading a particular initiative, then it can progress to leading a department or program."
Andy Anderson, MD, MBA, is CMO and chief quality officer at RWJBarnabas Health. Photo courtesy of RWJBarnabas Health.
Physician leadership development efforts
RWJBarnabas has several physician leadership development efforts in place.
The most formal physician leadership development program, which was developed by senior leadership including Anderson, is an all-day session designed to impart leadership skills for emerging physician leaders.
"We walk through things such as what does physician leadership look like—what are the behaviors physician leaders exhibit," Anderson says. "We talk about areas such as recruitment, performance management, how to give effective feedback, how to maintain wellness for yourself and your colleagues, and change management."
Mentoring and coaching are essential elements of physician leadership development at RWJBarnabas, Anderson explains.
"It is important for senior physician leaders to be great mentors, great coaches, and great role models," Anderson says, "so others can observe the things we do and in turn do those things themselves."
A crucial element of mentoring and coaching physicians who aspire to being leaders is giving good feedback.
"A coach or mentor must understand a physician leadership candidate's strengths and weaknesses," Anderson says. "If there are behaviors that are not the right behaviors, a coach or mentor should make sure that feedback is given in a timely and effective manner."
As the health system's CMO, Anderson provides mentorship and coaching to RWJBarnabas' 12 hospital CMOs.
"Each of those chief medical officers report to me, and I mentor and coach them to be more effective leaders," Anderson says. "In turn, they have department chairs, program directors, and other physician leaders within their hospitals that they mentor and coach."
In addition to knowing the strengths and weaknesses of his hospital CMOs, Anderson strives to be transparent with the executives in his role as a mentor and a coach.
"I like to focus on the outcomes at a hospital, see how things are going, and offer help if there are opportunities for me to coach based on the things I am hearing," Anderson says. "I am transparent and have open conversations."
A three-member panel including two CMOs shares their perspectives on care teams.
In the latest edition of HealthLeaders' The Winning Edge webinar series, three experts discussed best practices for building and managing care teams.
With workforce shortages in the inpatient and outpatient settings across the country, building and managing care teams has become a critical issue for health systems and hospitals. One of the top challenges has been integrating an increasing number of advanced practice providers (APPs) into care teams.
The conversation included five tips for building and managing care teams: building interdisciplinary care teams, building a culture of compassion on care teams, integrating APPs into care teams, leading care teams, and off-loading tasks on care teams.
Tune in to view a video of the webinar to gain all the insights of the panelists on effective strategies to build and manage care teams, which help position healthcare organizations for success.
As part of The Winning Edge series, a three-member panel including two CMOs shares their perspectives on care teams.
The latest webinar for HealthLeaders' The Winning Edge series was held this week on the topic of building and managing effective care teams.
With workforce shortages in the inpatient and outpatient settings across the country, building and managing care teams has become a critical issue for health systems and hospitals. One of the top challenges has been integrating an increasing number of advanced practice providers (APPs) into care teams.
A three-member panel including two CMOs shares their perspectives on care teams.
The latest webinar for HealthLeaders' The Winning Edge series was held yesterday on the topic of building and managing effective care teams.
With workforce shortages in the inpatient and outpatient settings across the country, building and managing care teams has become a critical issue for health systems and hospitals. One of the top challenges has been integrating an increasing number of advanced practice providers (APPs) into care teams.
The conversation included five tips for building and managing care teams.
1. Building interdisciplinary care teams: Everyone on an interdisciplinary care team needs to feel valued and feel that they are impacting patient care, the panelists said.
It is helpful for discharges and inpatient care in general for interdisciplinary care teams to conduct rounds in the morning, including physicians, nurses, and pharmacists, one of the panelists said.
Although it can be difficult to form interdisciplinary care teams in the outpatient setting, they are crucial to providing high quality and safe care in many specialties such as cancer care, a panelist said. In the outpatient setting, it is helpful to co-locate clinicians in the same building so they can communicate easily, the panelist said.
Technology such as a chat function in the electronic health record can foster good communication between interdisciplinary care team members and support a collegial environment, a panelist said.
2. Building a culture of compassion: Fostering compassion on care teams supports quality, access, and timeliness, a panelist said.
Although care team members may feel overworked or burned out, keeping a focus on the patient and the patient's needs bolsters compassion, according to one of the panelists.
In addition, a panelist said it is imperative for healthcare leaders such as CMOs to respect that care team members have a life outside of medicine to support a compassionate environment. Healthcare leaders should not make value judgments about the commitment of care team members because everyone has a unique approach to setting a work-life balance.
Healthcare leaders should also lead by example and demonstrate compassion in the workplace. In this sense, compassion is contagious, with the leader demonstrating compassion and the care team members following suit.
3. Integrating APPs into care teams: First and foremost, APPs such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners want to feel that they are valued members of care teams, according to one of the panelists.
Although many APPs want to practice independently, it is important for them to recognize that they do not have the same level of training as physicians, a panelist said. With this in mind, APPs need to know when to ask for help without worrying that other care team members question their ability.
In highly specialized fields such as cancer care, experienced APPs can practice independently for follow-up visits, according to one of the panelists.
There is variation in how APPs are used in inpatient and outpatient settings, depending on the specialty involved. There is no single model for APP utilization at health systems and hospitals.
4. Leading care teams: Care teams can be led by physicians or by APPs and nurses, the panelists said.
As long as APPs and nurses have strong training and confidence, they can be well suited to leading a care team. Given the workforce shortages that health systems and hospitals face, it is important to not be prescriptive or firm on who can lead care teams, a panelist said, adding the decision on who is best positioned to lead a care team depends on the qualities of the individual.
When care teams are not led by physicians, healthcare leaders such as CMOs should put communication channels in place to let patients know who is in charge of their care, a panelist said.
5. Off-loading tasks on care teams: Technology and support staff can ease non-patient-care burdens on care teams, according to the panelists.
Physical scribes and ambient AI tools can record a conversation between a clinician and a patient, then generate a clinical note in the electronic health record. AI tools can also respond to messages in clinicians' electronic in-boxes, particularly when a message only requires a "thank you" or "see you soon" response, according to one panelist.
Clinicians review AI-generated responses to patient messages now, but AI tools will be able to respond to patient messages without review in the future.
APPs and nurses can work on documentation at a centralized location, a panelist said. Additionally, in any case where staff have care team responsibilities delegated to them, the support staff must feel supported and valued.
These CMOs think differently about whether care teams should always be led by physicians or whether they can be led by APPs or nurses in some circumstances.
With workforce shortages impacting health systems and hospitals across the country, the effective formation and management of care teams is more important than ever.
The physician shortage in many specialties is particularly challenging for care teams. Health systems and hospitals have risen to this challenge by employing more advanced practice providers (APPs) to maintain care access and lighten the load on physicians.
In recent conversations with HealthLeaders, a pair of CMOs gave different takes on whether care teams should always be led by physicians or whether it is appropriate for care teams to be led by APPs or nurses in some circumstances.
"Multidisciplinary care teams should be collaborative, with flexibility to adapt based on the patient's needs and setting," Kalman says. "Whether in the hospital or outpatient clinic, well-structured teams ensure the best outcomes."
While the growing role of APPs helps address physician shortages, physician-led teams provide the optimal structure for delivering high-quality, patient-centered care, according to Kalman.
In a well-designed care model at Northwell, different team members contribute their expertise, with physicians providing oversight and team decision-making for complex cases. Kalman highlights the importance of flexibility.
"An advanced practice provider may manage a patient’s diabetes and hypertension, but if that patient presents with rapid atrial fibrillation and a fever, physician consultation is essential to determine next steps," Kalman says.
Physicians, APPs, nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, and other healthcare professionals all play key roles in guiding a patient through their care at Northwell, with physicians providing clinical oversight, Kalman says.
APPs such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants are going to play leading roles on care teams more often, according to Suzanne Wenderoth, executive vice president and CMO of Tower Health as well as a HealthLeaders CMO Exchange member. Historically, CMOs and other healthcare leaders have thought that physicians should lead care teams under all circumstances, but that view is changing.
"Now, we recognize with both changes to laws in the states, which allow for full practice authority for advanced practice providers, and the physician shortage in the post-COVID era, there has been an evolution in our thinking," Wenderoth says.
At Tower Health, APPs and nurses are under consideration for leadership roles on care teams, Wenderoth explains.
"At Tower Health, we do believe that every care team should have access to a physician," Wenderoth says. "But whether care teams need to be led by a physician is up for discussion."
There are circumstances where a care team can be led by an APP or a nurse, according to Wenderoth.
"When we talk about leading care teams, we are really talking about making sure the leader has leadership skills such as maintaining accountability, demonstrating professionalism, and having good facilitation skills," Wenderoth says. "That can be done by a physician, advanced practice provider, or nurse."
Focusing on solutions
The next webinar in our Winning Edge series, which will be held on Tuesday, March 11, from 1 to 2 PM ET, will tackle managing care teams head-on. Discussion topics include fostering interdisciplinary teamwork on care teams, optimizing the role of advanced practice providers on inpatient and outpatient care teams, and whether care teams should be physician-led.
Our panel includes:
Joshua Bozek, CMO of Catholic Health's St. Catherine of Sienna Hospital;
Oren Cahlon, senior vice president and deputy chief clinical officer at NYU Langone Health;
Christopher Cheney, event moderator and HealthLeaders CMO editor; and
Tipu Puri, CMO of University of Chicago Medical Center.
This is not just another webinar—it is an opportunity to learn from the best in the business and take away strategies you can implement at your organization. Join us as we explore care teams in depth.
The HealthLeaders Exchange is an exclusive, executive community for sharing ideas, solutions, and insights.
Please join the community at our LinkedIn page. To inquire about attending a HealthLeaders Exchange event and becoming a member, email us at exchange@healthleadersmedia.com.
Although physician unionization efforts have been focused on the West Coast, the trend is growing and spreading across the country, this consultant says.
In recent years, physician unionization has been focused on the West Coast, but it is now being seen on the East Coast and in the South, says Clark Bosslet, MBA, a partner at ECG Management Consultants. Bosslet expects the trend to grow and continue for the foreseeable future.
A Journal of the American Medical Associationarticle published in December found physician unionization picked up momentum over the past two years. Recent physician unionization efforts include primary care physicians seeking to unionize at Mass General Brigham.
"There is a general awareness of unionization as an option, which is driving it forward," Bosslet says. "I was at a couple of physician society conferences over the past six months, and unionization was on everybody's mind. What is the viability of it? Have there been positive outcomes from it? It is increasingly top of mind for physicians as the ultimate fallback option."
Physician unionization drivers
Several factors are driving physician unionization efforts, according to Bosslet.
"More than ever, physicians are seeking sustainable work-life balance," Bosslet says. "They are seeking predictability both in terms of their compensation and their time commitment."
While higher base compensation is a significant factor, there are other forces at play, particularly the sense that physicians have a seat at the table in decision-making, Bosslet explains. Physicians want to have a say in how quality measures are established, how their clinical definition is established, how their schedule is established, and how their care teams are defined.
"When they feel that these things are being dictated down to them, that is where they start to bristle," Bosslet said.
Physicians are objecting to feeling that they are always on the clock and always on call, according to Bosslet.
"That is finally starting to reach a boiling point, where physicians are saying that they have to have clear lines of definition around when they are available and when they are not available," Bosslet says. "That is sustainability of work-life balance."
Physicians want to have a better understanding of the financial status of their health system or medical group, Bosslet explains.
"Where I am seeing successful physician engagement is when there is a willingness to sit across from all of the physicians and executives say how the health system is doing and how the medical group is doing," Bosslet says. "There needs to be a willingness to share what is driving success."
How CMOs can discourage unionization
One of the reasons why more physicians are seeking to unionize is the increase in direct employment of physicians over the past 20 years, according to Bosslet.
"When those physicians decide to give up or forego the inherent autonomy of private practice and join a health system or medical group, they think it is going to be easier to practice—there is going to be a burden lifted off of them," Bosslet says.
To discourage physicians from unionizing, CMOs and other healthcare leaders need to focus on ease of practice, Bosslet explains.
"They cannot layer on extra layers of bureaucracy, although there is usually a rationale behind it," Bosslet says. "The extra electronic health record obligations and time commitments take physicians away from direct patient care. That is where they start to feel frustrated."
CMOs should make sure their physicians feel respected and empowered, according to Bosslet. Physicians recognize their role in the success of health systems, and they want a degree of transparency from leadership.
"They do not need to sit with the CFO to comb through all the numbers," Bosslet says. "But you need to make sure they have a degree of transparency into the financial health of the health system or the medical group. That makes them feel empowered."
Physician engagement is critical to head off unionization efforts. CMOs should make an effort to check in with their physicians to see how they are doing.
"To the extent that you can survey your faculty and physicians to get a pulse check, or even better, try to meet with as many of them as possible on a regular basis, you can hear their problems and empathize with them," Bosslet says. "That is what is going to keep physicians engaged in a positive way and keep them away from ultimately pursuing unionization."
What CMOs can do if their physicians unionize
Physician unions pose a challenge to CMOs and other healthcare leaders, according to Bosslet.
"Once a union has been established, it adds a degree of rigidity and it adds a degree of separation," Bosslet says. "Once a union is established, it adds a degree of formality to conversations. … When you have a union, it makes it harder to be nimble."
To cut through this rigidity and formality, CMOs should compartmentalize union conversations, Bosslet explains.
"If you are a CMO, your clinical leaders can't get engaged with union conversations. You are going to hear things from the providers," Bosslet says. "It is important to show a degree of empathy and show a degree of respect. You need to make sure you are hearing concerns and taking them back to the proper representatives."
The formation of a physician union should not result in a CMO being alienated from the doctors because everybody is ultimately pursuing the same mission, according to Bosslet.
"From the CMO's perspective, at the end of the day, these are still your people," Bosslet says. "They are in your clinics. They are in your operating rooms. They are in your ER. They are your people and your medical staff. They are part of your team keeping patients healthy. That must be at the forefront."
CMOs should not let strains with union representatives strain the relationship with their physicians, Bosslet explains.
"No matter how adversarial the conversations with the union representatives might get, in the healthcare facilities, physicians are your people and there is no distance between you," Bosslet says.
Legislation before Congress would allow AI tools or machine learning technologies to prescribe medication if approved by state law and the FDA.
Legislation that would allow AI tools to prescribe medication is premature, according to an AI expert at Sutter Health.
AI is taking on increasing roles in clinical care. For example, there are AI tools that help radiologists to read and interpret medical images. In addition, AI tools can provide clinical decision support. Ambient listening AI tools record interactions between clinicians and patients, then develop a clinical note for the electronic health record.
In January, U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, R-Arizona, introduced the Healthy Technology Act of 2025. The legislation, which is being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, would allow AI tools or machine learning technologies to prescribe medication.
Under the Healthy Technology Act of 2025, an AI tool or machine learning technologies would be considered a practitioner licensed by law to prescribe medication under two circumstances. First, the technology would have to be approved as a practitioner to prescribe medication by state law. Second, the technology would have to be approved, cleared, or authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Kiran Mysore is chief data and analytics officer at Sutter Health. Photo courtesy of Sutter Health.
AI tools or machine learning technologies are not ready to play the role of a practitioner who prescribes medication, according to Kiran Mysore, MS, chief data and analytics officer at Sutter Health, and a HealthLeaders AI in Clinical Care Mastermind member.
"AI exists to supplement physicians, not supplant them," Mysore says. "AI helps elevate the level of patient care and reduce physicians' cognitive burden. Use of AI in this fashion is still premature; there are several risks and unknowns that we should work through."
AI tools can help make decisions on prescribing medications, but a clinician still needs to have the final say, Mysore explains.
"Our general rule of thumb is that we need a human in the loop across the board as a requirement in clinical decision-making," Mysore says.
Several hurdles must be cleared before AI tools are ready to prescribe medication without the supervision of a clinician, according to Mysore. First and foremost, AI tools must have reliable knowledge and understanding of a wide range of illnesses and treatments.
"It has to have a deep awareness of the patient's entire medical history and be able to get the latest information easily," Mysore says. "The tool has to also have internal guardrails to prevent errors and bias, with some level of explainability and chain of reasoning."
In addition, there needs to be a mechanism to rate actual prescriptions against a physician's recommendations, Mysore explains.
"We have a long way to go before all these requirements are in place," Mysore says.
The HealthLeaders Mastermind program is an exclusive series of calls and events with healthcare executives. The AI in Clinical Care 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.
Students earn their medical degree in three years tuition-free, then transition into a three-year family medicine residency program.
As CMOs know, there is a primary care physician shortage across the country, and South Carolina is no exception. By 2030, the Cicero Institute projects that the state will have a shortfall of nearly 1,000 primary care physicians.
The University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville has launched an innovative program to help address the primary care physician shortage in The Palmetto State.
Frank Beacham, MD, a clinical assistant professor and director of the Primary Care Accelerated Track (PCAT) program at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville, has direct experience with the primary care physician shortage.
"I practice family medicine, and I see firsthand how many patients struggle to find a primary care physician," Beacham says. "Even when they have one, getting an appointment can be a major challenge. The demand for primary care physicians is constantly growing."
J. Casey Chapman, MD, is CMO of GI Alliance. Photo courtesy of GI Alliance.
Andy Anderson, MD, MBA, is CMO and chief quality officer at RWJBarnabas Health. Photo courtesy of RWJBarnabas Health.
Kiran Mysore is chief data and analytics officer at Sutter Health. Photo courtesy of Sutter Health.
