AI Healthcare Summit fosters collaboration and reveals possibilities

Not a day goes by that we don’t hear how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way we live and work. It’s a seismic shift; and in many industries, AI has fundamentally transformed the way companies conduct business, communicate with customers, and solve pain points that continue to impact both.

This couldn’t be truer than in the field of healthcare, but with one key difference: Instead of adjusting life routines, AI has now become an essential tool in saving lives.

On Thursday, September 12, The Martin Group hosted an impressive collection of Western New York’s AI and healthcare leaders for a morning of education and collaboration regarding How AI is Transforming Healthcare. Sponsored by Athelas and set inside the beautiful atrium of our downtown Buffalo office, the event featured a keynote address from Dr. Venu Govindaraju, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Vice President for Research & Economic Development at the University at Buffalo.

Along with critical insights from Dr. Govindaraju, the morning featured a lively discussion with panelists Donald Boyd, President & CEO of Kaleida Health; Anna Mercado Clark, Partner, Chief Information Security Officer and Co-Leader of the Technology Industry Team at Phillips Lytle; Dr. Lorrie Clemo, President of D’Youville University; Dr. Mandip Panesar, Associate Medical Director/Chief Medical Information Officer at ECMC; and Amin Serehali, Senior Vice President, Chief Data & Analytics Officer, Independent Health.

Over the course of the morning’s program, our collection of experts addressed a series of topics concerning AI in Healthcare; how it’s changed the industry for patients, healthcare professionals, and health insurance companies; and how capabilities in the healthcare space will continue to evolve quickly.

Western New York at the center of global AI development

Since its early work in using AI to read handwritten addresses for the U.S. postal service in 1997, the University at Buffalo has been a leader in AI research and application.

Now, as a central component of New York State’s new Empire AI research consortium—a first-of-its-kind collective funded by more than $400 million in public and private funds that aims to put NY at the forefront of the AI revolution—UB is leading the way to discern how far this technology can take us.

With healthcare, Dr. Govindaraju and his team have already embarked on a series of research initiatives that hope to enable selection and matching of patients with the most promising clinical trials; development of remote health-monitoring devices; detection of currently imperceptible medical conditions; and discovery of ways to anticipate disease-risk years in advance.

And this is just a small sample size of the vast efforts being made in the realm of research and technology creation, with the aim of making major strides in patient care, drug discovery, and more.

As Dr. Govindaraju wisely summarized, “The potential for AI continues to be immense.”

Enhancing patient experiences

Patient experience is a critical part of healthcare and a consistent focus of health systems and providers alike. Now, AI is being used in increasingly innovative ways to elevate this experience, reshaping the way people are diagnosed, treated, and monitored.

“If you think about the healthcare ecosystem and how it’s been designed, it’s an institution-centric design,” said Boyd. “AI is taking this design to make it a more patient-centric design.” As Boyd said simply, “With AI, the place of need is becoming the place of care [for patients].”

Machine learning can enable precise disease diagnosis, customized treatments, and detection of subtle changes in vital signs. AI algorithms can assist healthcare professionals in interpreting medical images (like MRIs, CT scans, or X-rays) and pathology slides, which can lead to faster and more accurate diagnoses of various diseases. In addition, the proficiency of these processes can enable timelier and more customizable treatment and ease the anxieties of patients and their families concerning the unknown.

And when observing a shift in vital signs, input could suggest that these changes might indicate potential health issues or a delay in healing, giving medical professionals the knowledge to make a better plan of care for the patient.

Facilitating critical communication

At the forefront of the patient experience is effective communication. Oftentimes, this could either be improved or specifically customized for the patient to elicit a better understanding of diagnoses, possible treatments, and potential outcomes.

AI has advanced to fulfill these needs, facilitating better communication between healthcare professionals and their patients, thus improving the patient experience.

Chatbots (often referred to as virtual health assistants) now interact with patients using natural language processing to address everything from scheduling appointments, answering common questions, and even providing necessary education for those seeking specific answers. This improves access to healthcare services, but also enhances—and encourages—patient engagement—no matter the situation.

“Human interaction with the patient will be revolutionized because I’m spending more time with the patient,” said Dr. Panesar of ECMC. “I’m not spending time trying to document one little point I may have missed. That role [of documenting] will be absorbed by AI.”

And in the realm of personalizing communications specific to each patient, AI is making this happen, too. AI applications can analyze vast amounts of patient data in medical records, genetic information,­­­ and lifestyle factors to personalize treatment plans for each individual. Other processes are easing communication concerns by converting all medical direction into the native language of each patient, which eases understanding and maximizes engagement and eventual action.

Another tool toward health equity

Creating greater equity in healthcare continues to be a major focus throughout the healthcare industry because necessary healthcare services are oftentimes not reaching those most in need. But if AI systems are designed with health equity in mind, trained on diverse datasets, and continuously monitored for biases, these systems can be important assets for creating equity throughout the healthcare landscape.

Operations such as AI-powered telemedicine platforms can bring healthcare services to remote areas and underserved populations. AI-driven tools can provide patients with personalized educational materials, helping them understand their condition and treatment options better—and ideally, lead to better outcomes. Other AI systems can be an essential cog in predictive analytics to identify at-risk populations; identifying (and mitigating) biases in healthcare delivery by providing objective, data-based insights; and streamline administrative processes to increase efficiencies and, ideally, lower healthcare costs.

At the University at Buffalo, Dr. Govindaraju and others are working extensively on addressing health equity issues. A recent $3.6 million grant from the National Institute of Health will help support UB’s Community Health Equity Research Institute (CHERI), established to address inequities across the region, but with special focus on Buffalo’s communities of color that are centralized on the city’s East Side.

The university also received a $3 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to support the work of UB’s Indigenous Research Center, focused on facilitating broader indigenous inclusion with the communities of Western New York and Southern Ontario.

The future is now

There’s plenty of consideration about how AI could impact healthcare, but we don’t need to look into the future. First and foremost, we need to appreciate how much AI is doing right now.

It’s already significantly impacting almost every facet of healthcare; and with the way it’s revolutionizing how researchers analyze data, develop treatments, and understand diseases, it’s impact will only continue to grow. As discussed throughout our in-person event and across this space, advancements are expected to lead to more effective treatments, improved patient outcomes, and ultimately, a more efficient and equitable healthcare system for all.

For now, we can revel in how far we’ve already come, all while working toward pursuing the true potential of healthcare: creating a better quality of life for all people.

Want to learn more about The Martin Group’s work within multiple facets of healthcare? Click here.