5 Key Themes from becker’s Health IT + Digital health + RCM Conference
improving access to care and boosting patient and provider experience via digital – with and without AI – were among the main talking points at this year’s Becker’s Health IT + Digital Health + RCM Conference.
here are five key themes from the conference which took place Sept.30 to Oct. 3 in Chicago and featured over 600 speakers and 2,500 executive-level attendees:
1.Ambient AI is a starting point – and its real value so far is cognitive offload.
“What ambient documentation has done is actually put the provider back in the room with the patient,” said Rebecca Mishuris, MD, vice president and chief medical information officer of Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham. “And that really addresses the joy of medicine.”
Ambient AI was associated with a 20% reduction in clinician burnout per a study at Mass General Brigham and Atlanta-based Emory Healthcare – though only a 10-minute-a-day drop in “pajama time,” aka after-hours work.
In a pilot program,Rochester (N.Y.) Regional Health experienced a 25% drop in total documentation time but a 50% reduction in burnout and a 75% decrease in providers who said they wanted to quit.
Adoption hasn’t been universal, though, with some clinicians describing it as “life-changing” and others simply not using it or saying it’s not ready, executives said. AI governance is also critical for the technology’s continued deployment.
Ambient AI moves next into the nursing and inpatient spaces, though nurses have been even slower to find it useful, leaders said.
2. access is the existential pressure digital must help ease.
Health IT leaders remain focused on increasing access to care through digital, optimizing schedules, finding right-site care for patients and relieving primary care provider burden.
Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System has found success with bidirectional SMS texting that looks like it’s coming from the physician’s office,which has had 79% engagement,and voice bots to follow up with patients after discharge from the emergency department or who called a 24/7 nurse helpline,boosting care coordination. Baby boomers, surprisingly, have been the most engaged with digital tools at Memorial hermann.
Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine has been focused on patient experience tools that will improve access through better online scheduling and waitlist management, while Boston Medical Center Health System has installed digital welcome kiosks in multiple languages, freeing up time for more appointments.
“We realized we’re not going to build our way out of this capacity crisis. We need to think differently,” said Danny metzger-Traber, vice president of strategic buisness operations for Mass General Brigham Healthcare at Home.
Healthcare Innovation: Beyond the Hype, Focusing on Practical AI and tech Implementation
Healthcare organizations are moving past simply exploring artificial intelligence (AI) and digital tools, and are increasingly focused on practical implementation and demonstrable return on investment. A recent trend highlights a shift towards strategically deploying technology to solve real-world problems, streamline operations, and ultimately improve patient care and financial stability.
1. Innovation Units & Strategic Alignment:
Several health systems are establishing dedicated innovation units to rigorously test and measure the performance of new technologies before widespread adoption. Duke University Health System in Durham, N.C., is among those following this model, mirroring approaches seen at other organizations. Mount Sinai in New York has taken a extensive approach, integrating both bottom-up idea generation – such as a wound care nurse proposing an AI-powered bed sore prevention tool – with top-down strategic alignment, ensuring C-suite approval of the innovation roadmap.
2. Business-Driven Transformation:
A key theme emerging is the need for technology to be integrated with the business, not imposed on it. Bill Sheahan,senior vice president and chief transformation officer of MedStar Health in Columbia,Md., emphasizes, “You can’t do transformation to the business. You have to do it with the business.” This suggests a collaborative approach where technology solutions are developed in response to identified business needs and workflows.
3. Venture Capital & Live Implementations:
Bon Secours Mercy Health, based in Cincinnati, is actively streamlining its digital offerings, reducing its app portfolio from over 2,000 to approximately 600. Furthermore,the system is investing in startups through an “operating cosponsor” venture capital model,ensuring that investments translate into tangible implementations within the health system,rather than simply serving as branding exercises.
4. Problem-focused Approach – Not Just AI:
Leaders are stressing the importance of identifying the core problem before seeking a technological solution. Michael Pfeffer, MD, senior vice president and chief information and digital officer of Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto, Calif., notes, “A lot of problems in healthcare don’t need AI.They need other things like better processes.” Though, Stanford is actively exploring AI applications, including projects focused on patient response and conversational AI chatbots.
5. The Power of “unsexy” Tech:
Perhaps the most important trend is the focus on practical, often less glamorous, applications of technology. AI-powered solutions for prior authorizations and medical coding are proving effective in stabilizing margins and optimizing scheduling. Computer vision is being utilized to improve supply chain management, reducing waste and ensuring adequate stock levels. Automation is also transforming contact centers.
Penn Medicine provides a compelling example, having upgraded its telephony system to an AI-powered cloud platform, consolidated multiple websites into a single platform, and streamlined patient outreach systems from 13 to just four. Philynn Hepschmidt,vice president of patient access at Penn Medicine,acknowledges that these improvements “None of this is cool,sexy technology … but it was necessary for us to lay the foundation to get us ready for things like agentic AI.”
This shift towards practical implementation and foundational improvements suggests a maturing approach to healthcare technology, prioritizing tangible results and long-term sustainability over simply chasing the latest trends.