Sande Irwin, MD, shares key takeaways from Kaiser Permanente’s innovative, value-based approach to evaluating and recommending new products and services based on clinical evidence.
Navigating AI’s impact on health care
The impact of AI and other technology has only just begun to present health care leaders with new possibilities to transform care while also introducing the pitfalls of moving too fast and losing the focus on patients. In a recent interview with Becker’s Health IT, Brian Hoberman, MD, chief information officer, executive vice president, and national IT leader of The Permanente Federation, shared how Kaiser Permanente’s approach to health care innovation helps navigate the evolving technology landscape and offered advice for other health care leaders.
Dr. Hoberman emphasized remembering the human aspects of health care delivery during every stage of the tech cycle, from improving current technologies already in place to selecting and implementing new tools.
“It’s at the level of trying to get it spread in a human way, and then the challenge for a leader like me is to construct an organization that accomplishes that by tapping into that human structure,” said Dr. Hoberman.
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Maximizing existing technologies in health care
A top priority for Dr. Hoberman in the near future is ensuring technology currently in use at Kaiser Permanente is refined for efficient use by physicians and clinicians.
An example Hoberman raised was the recent Kaiser Permanente rollout of ambient listening technology which aids physicians in writing up their notes on patients. Initial results showed positive results in assisting doctors with notetaking. Improvement of the technology will aim to remove extra steps needed to use the time-saving tools, further reducing the after-hours administrative load on physicians so they can focus on better caring for patients.
“The goal is to enable physicians and clinicians to concentrate on the job they’re trained to do. That includes spending more time focused on the patient and less time focused on a computer screen,” said Dr. Hoberman.
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Being strategic about new technologies
Health care leaders also face barriers in evaluating new technology and learning how to introduce it to employees in a meaningful but effortless way. Dr. Hoberman discussed strategies for introducing new tools to make them more digestible, including finding team members interested in new technologies and investing in added training for those employees.
Looking forward, Dr. Hoberman shared the need to remain strategic when exploring AI tools and making sure they are used in a responsible, unbiased, and equitable way. This includes striving for future AI technology that is trained in a method that screens for biases in medical knowledge.
Ultimately, Dr. Hoberman advised IT leaders in the industry to make sure they’re focused on end users and patients when exploring new technology’s potential for health care transformation.
“The job is taking care of the patient, not mastery of the technology,” said Dr. Hoberman.
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