How to effectively wield emerging tech
In recent years, more and more emerging technologies, including ChatGPT, metaverse, and natural language processing-based tools, have entered the healthcare market, and they can be a blessing or a curse for healthcare organizations looking to get their hands on them.
During the panel session “The double-edged sword of emerging technology,” Veneeth Purushotaman, CIO of Aster DM Healthcare, Dr. Tamara Sunbul, Medical Director of Clinical Informatics at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, and Arvind Sivaramakrishnan,
CIO of Karkinos Healthcare shared results and learnings from their latest emerging technology implementations.
Recently, Aster entered the metaverse, first through Medcare Women & Children Hospital.
Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare has used AI to improve the speed of diagnosing diabetic retinopathy. It has also used cognitive AI and computer modeling to reduce the risk of sepsis by 5%.
“AI in general is one of the proven technologies that have surfaced today,” Dr. Sunbul noted.
Meanwhile, doctors at Karkinos Healthcare are using NLP to help automatically translate and transcribe their notes.
Considerations
Before hopping on the hype train for these new technologies, Aster’s Purushotaman said it’s especially important to consider their use case.
“The use case should ring a bell with your stakeholders, especially your doctors. Try not to throw a toy at them if they don’t want to use it,” he said, citing an example where one of their doctors didn’t. want to use an automatic speech-to-text tool for taking notes.
“There are several reasons why a doctor may not want to use a particular technology. Let’s not force it.”
Another important point of attention is scalability. According to Karkinos’ Sivaramakrishnan, the lack of this has led to the failure of IBM Watson and its eventual sale to Francisco Partners.
“There are technologies that are doing well, have great potential and have certainly surpassed our generation in terms of intellectual supremacy. But they do not fulfill the purpose for which they were intended and certainly do not meet the scalability (requirements). “
“Healthcare is about scalability. We’re already a planet of (about) 5 billion people. So that’s the aspect that’s a little bit missing,” he said.
For Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, the biggest question when adopting emerging technology, especially AI, is whether to borrow it, buy it, or create its own version in-house.
“Because of the large amount of data required to make these AI algorithms work, it usually makes more sense to actually buy something that has already been done and proven,” said Dr. Sunbul.
Finally, the decision to adopt new technology cannot be made without discussing its costs.
“Make sure you have all these things in order with your business stakeholders before you start. Otherwise, you will have a lot of projects lying around, half of which you will have completed (proof of concepts) and will end up not going live,” Purushotaman advised.
“Wherever we are in the world, we are all working to make healthcare affordable for the scale of our economies – making it as cheap as possible without (sacrificing) quality and efficiency,” Sivaramakrishnan added.
Generative AI
Generative AI has been a hot topic in recent months. Given the continued advancement of AI, healthcare leaders have collectively agreed that its use should be regulated.
“There is no international government that actually controls this, not even at the local level,” says Dr. Sunbul.
“Even if the FDA approves its use, it does not guarantee its accuracy,” she added, rhetorically questioning who will be responsible if AI fails.
While Sivaramakrishnan is behind Dr. Sunbul stood for AI regulation, he also emphasized that AI “must be used for a purpose.”
“This is not intended to replace the medical professional; this ensures that the art and science of medicine can truly deliver the best to the patient, anywhere, anytime.”
“Generative AI and all these cognitive technologies are nothing but help for the experts to ensure that they can excel,” he added.
Addressing challenges and cybersecurity risks
When implementing emerging technology in the hospital, cybersecurity and privacy is a critical design recipe.
“We need to have it in the DNA of our organization’s culture, which will allow us to become more technology-friendly and adopt more technology that is suitable for higher levels of service delivery,” Sivaramakrishnan said.
IT teams must also remain on the lookout for bad actors trying to break into the organization’s system during times of vulnerability, recalls Dr. Sunbul.
“The same way we use these technologies for whatever purpose, the bad people on the other side are also using these technologies… We just have to be vigilant about that and make sure we’re one step ahead of them.”
Having a strong foundation and ensuring the security of the EHR and other basic IT systems of hospitals is a no-brainer for Puruhototaman.
“While you’re all looking at the new age technologies, none of us can forget the basics… You can’t jump in and try all these new age technologies without the core technologies in place.”
He asserted that precautions should be taken when trying new things.
“The most important thing in safeguarding is raising awareness and making sure your internal stakeholders are educated,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Subul referred to sustainability as another success factor that usually comes as an afterthought in technical implementations.
“When we implement these technologies, we don’t really think about sustainability; usually it’s something we think about after the fact,” said Dr. Sunbul, who advised that implementations should have sustainability by design.
Overall, health leaders assured that there is nothing to be afraid of when trying emerging technology in the market.
“We need to be there,” Purushotaman said, “(but) please involve your stakeholders (in decision-making), manage expectations well and make sure you can go live.”
“Digital (transformation) is not magic. It doesn’t happen to us; we have to make it happen. So unless we put in the effort to actually get our organizations digital, it won’t happen,” said Sivaramakrishnan, who shared his findings. .