Kaiser Permanente’s new head of AI on ‘two fundamental shifts’ the technology will enable
An increasing number of healthcare systems are hiring executives, mostly physicians, to lead their artificial intelligence efforts – often chief AI officers, entirely at C-suite level. The complex technology with great potential is in the midst of an explosion in healthcare and many industries.
Kaiser Permanente, with its 40 hospitals and 600 medical offices, created the role of vice president of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies when they hired Dr. hired Daniel Yang.
Yang, who is not a chef, reports to Dr. Andrew Bindman, the chief physician. In his role, he provides quality oversight of all AI applications across the organization, including those used in clinical operations, research, education and related administrative functions.
Yang recently published a framework of seven principles that guides the organization in guaranteeing that the AI instruments it uses are safe and reliable. He has also called on policymakers to ensure AI is used responsibly.
Healthcare IT news sat down with Yang to discuss his role at Kaiser Permanente, the key healthcare issues AI can impact, and the deployment of a new AI-based clinical documentation tool for physicians and other healthcare providers in the healthcare system.
Q. Kaiser Permanente executives created the role of vice president of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies when they hired you in late 2023. What were they looking for in a manager, and what did you bring to the table?
A. I joined Kaiser Permanente from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, where I supported AI governance efforts in healthcare to ensure a thoughtful and judicious approach to the acquisition and deployment of AI tools.
While working at the Moore Foundation, I started having conversations with Dr. Andrew Bindman, Chief Medical Officer of Kaiser Permanente, on building a responsible AI program for Kaiser Permanente. It was clear that Kaiser Permanente wanted someone who wakes up and goes to sleep thinking the ways AI and other emerging technologies can help address the challenges facing the U.S. healthcare system.
These challenges may include access to quality care, affordability, and patient satisfaction.
What ultimately drew me to Kaiser Permanente was the opportunity to continue shaping the intersection of patient safety, healthcare quality and emerging technologies. I saw this role as an irresistible opportunity to build a responsible AI culture and program at Kaiser Permanente and, by working for one of the largest integrated healthcare systems, an opportunity to drive responsible adoption of health AI in the influence the United States.
It also allowed me to return to my roots in internal medicine. I am still a practicing physician and I continue to see emergency care patients at Kaiser Permanente and the Department of Veterans Affairs. This hands-on experience helps me understand and gain empathy for the daily challenges doctors face. I bring that empathy to my role every day as we think about how to leverage AI and new technologies in ways that improve patient care and minimize risk.
Q. How would you describe your job description to colleagues interested in your role and to executives considering such a position?
A. When I look at other AI leaders or similar leadership positions being created in different healthcare systems, I ultimately see a common set of denominators across these positions.
First, these leaders are often practicing physicians.
Second, many of these leaders are not actually technologists. They have come to appreciate the importance of technology, whether their background is from a quality, safety or research perspective.
Third, these roles require some operational experience. In most cases, these leaders must create new processes and programs that did not exist before. They must create and pioneer new programs without pre-existing playbooks, and find the resources to do so, which can be particularly challenging given the macro pressures of rising healthcare costs.
And fourth, strong communication skills are crucial ensuring that AI technologies are implemented in a way that is scientifically sound and practically useful. I consider myself an AI translator bridging the gap between engineering teams, physicians and the public. While I may not have a PhD in artificial intelligence or computer science, my strength lies in tailoring AI solutions to the practical needs of our physicians and members.
Q. What do you think are the most important AI issues in healthcare today?
A. I think the real question is, “What are the most important issues in healthcare today?” This is where I feel many leaders get it wrong. You don’t have an AI problem. AI is just one of many tools or technologies we can use to solve the real problems facing the US healthcare system today.
Some of these major, overarching healthcare challenges include increasing delays in patient access, rising costs of delivering healthcare services, and provider burnout. These challenges result from a disconnect between the growing complexity of healthcare delivery and the availability of trained physicians to provide care.
AI can enable two fundamental shifts needed to address this mismatch between supply and demand.
First, AI can help unlock opportunities for patients to better self-manage their care.
Second, AI can help the healthcare system evolve from a 1:1 care model (1 doctor:1 patient) to a 1:many care model, while maintaining or even improving the quality of care and patient experience. The use of generative AI for personalized guidance in the education sector is an interesting model that we can learn from.
And finally, the healthcare industry must address safety and quality concerns when it comes to AI in healthcare. This requires a robust, responsible AI program that prioritizes patient safety and quality of care above all else.
It will also accelerate an organization’s capabilities in addressing the ethical considerations and potential biases in AI implementations. It is paramount to ensure that AI tools do not perpetuate existing inequalities in healthcare. Continuous monitoring and evaluation are essential to achieve these goals.
Q. What is an AI project you led in your first year at Kaiser? How did the process go and what did you and your team achieve? What have been the results?
A. The COVID-19 pandemic caused burnout among American physicians a record high. We wanted to better support our physicians and clinicians by reducing the administrative work they face in their daily lives, especially the time spent documenting clinical notes during patient visits. We saw that rapid progress in generative AI could help with this.
I helped lead the implementation of a new AI-based clinical documentation tool for our physicians and other clinicians across Kaiser Permanente’s 40 hospitals and more than 600 medical offices. We think this was the largest implementation of ambient listening technology in the United States.
The tool, which requires patient consent, helps doctors and other clinicians securely take clinical notes during patient visits. Most importantly, it frees our doctors and physicians from their keyboards so they can focus their attention back on patients instead of computer screens.
Our belief at Kaiser Permanente is that AI should never replace the judgment or expertise of our physicians and clinicians. To succeed, we must assess each AI tool before we deploy it to ensure we understand how to use it safely and effectively.
For example, when we first rolled out the tool, I led our quality assurance testing to assess how well the tool performed across different clinical specialties and in the cluttered environments of the real world. These insights have helped us use the tool responsibly, including our training for doctors and clinicians on how to use it effectively while minimizing risks.
Since September 2024, clinicians and clinicians have used the tool to capture more than 2 million patient interactions. Doctors and clinicians have shared that the tool enables more meaningful interactions with their patients. Patients have also shared that the tool provides more transparency during the visit.
For example, many doctors now dictate their results out loud during a physical exam, while previously they may have said nothing. To me, this is a great example of how emerging technologies can help our healthcare teams deliver superior healthcare experiences for our members and patients.
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