Chairman’s File: Embracing innovation for better health

Ever since America’s first hospital opened in 1736, hospitals and health systems have led the way in implementing medical breakthroughs that increase patient safety and improve care. Understanding how disease spreads, recognizing the need for sterile environments and pioneering organ transplants… these “radical” ideas and countless others are deeply imbedded in how we care for patients today.

Emerging artificial intelligence technologies are poised to be the next game-changer. While AI will not perform duties that only humans can provide, exciting new technologies promise to create better outcomes and greater value by completing inefficient, labor-intensive tasks.

To bridge the gap between promise and reality, AHA offers a comprehensive AI resources webpage designed to help members reap the benefits of the coming changes. The page also includes two new reports with a broad overview of how AI will affect the health care landscape and its specific impact on our workforce.

Last week, AHA also hosted Medicine and Machines, an executive forum featuring 16 health care experts prognosticating about AI’s near and long-term effects on health care system.

Realizing AI’s full potential will require collaboration on many fronts, both clinical and administrative. But the potential payoff is enormous: improving quality, health equity and the patient and clinician experience while delivering high-value care that meets our needs tomorrow and today.