The stir around artificial intelligence hasn't cooled in the past year, as health executives once again tapped AI as the most exciting and the most improved technology for the fourth year in a row.
Health executives said AI is most likely to help with healthcare administration, operations and clinical care, according to the Center for Connected Medicine's (CCM's) annual Top of Mind for Top Health Systems survey. Generative AI was the most cited AI application by health system leaders who said gen AI could be used for clinical care and decision-making.
The respondents to the survey were healthcare executives in integrated health systems, acute care hospitals, academic medical centers, post-acute care facilities and health information exchanges. There were 54 respondents. The survey was done through the CCM at UPMC in partnership with KLAS Research.
Ambient AI, which can listen to a patient interaction and generate notes for providers, was featured in executives’ responses. Executives hope ambient AI will help relieve provider burnout.
Many health systems this year have partnered with AI companies to put ambient scribes into patient rooms. Companies like DeepScribe, Augmedix, Nabla, Microsoft Nuance and Suki AI have made significant strides this year with their partnerships, as the ambient AI use case has become widely accepted in the industry.
"Health system leaders are understandably excited about the potential for AI to significantly benefit health care by automating time-consuming manual tasks and freeing up clinicians to focus more on patient care,” said Robert Bart, M.D., chief medical information officer for UPMC, which is a founding partner of the CCM, in a statement. “But the excitement also must be balanced with a commitment to high-quality care for patients and protections of their data and privacy."
Beyond AI, executives were also excited by the progress that telehealth and virtual care solutions have made in the last two years. UPMC said health systems continue to see value in virtual care post-pandemic in increasing appointment attendance and adding translators and family members to appointments.
Health systems are looking toward more in-patient applications of virtual care, such as connecting patients with specialists, according to the UPMC survey.
Integration/interoperability and patient engagement technologies also improved in the last two years, health system executives said. Less cited, but still improved, technologies included data analytics, clinical documentation, coding automation and electronic health records.
Health systems want to use the technologies to improve patient care, patient access and provider burnout, which have been their top concerns for two years in a row. In 2024, executives said they have focused more on operational challenges including efficiency, profit margins and staffing.