AI Assistance Enhances Patient Care Experience Throughout Their Journey
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Streamlining Healthcare with AI: Tackling Challenges and Embracing Opportunities
The healthcare industry has long sought to deliver proactive, customized care at scale, and today, artificial intelligence (AI) is pushing the limits and bringing long-standing objectives within reach. Across the care journey, providers are leveraging AI to boost efficiency, sharpen the patient experience, and bolster health outcomes.
Dr. Sarah Pletcher, Houston Methodist's Chief Digital Health Officer, emphasizes the importance of understanding AI solutions and their delivery to end-users, considering factors like integration, user experience, and visualization. As we innovate further with AI, it's crucial to keep these elements in mind.
U.S. healthcare institutions continue to pave the way with AI, continuously refining their deployments and reaping tangible benefits for patients, staff, and clinicians alike.
*Discover more by exploring the new CDW Artificial Intelligence Research Report.*
Fast-Track Cancer Diagnoses with AI: Northwell Health’s iNAV Innovation
In 2023, Northwell Health introduced iNAV, an AI-powered tool co-created by three physicians to scrutinize MRIs and CT scans for cancer. By analyzing scans obtained for various health purposes, iNAV offers a chance to detect cancers much sooner. When red flags are raised, a multidisciplinary team reviews the findings, expediting biopsies.
The tool has proven its worth, reducing biopsy waiting times from 22 days to seven and decreasing treatment times from 56 days to 34. At scale, such improvements could make a significant impact on health systems like Northwell, which operates over 21 hospitals across New York state.
Dr. David Rivadeneira, director of the Northwell Health Cancer Institute at Huntington and physician in chief for clinical strategic initiatives for Northwell Health's eastern region, noted, "The sooner patients get in, the sooner they can start treatment, and the better the outcomes are."
Initially focused on pancreatic cancer, iNAV now identifies other cancers as well. Beyond detection, Northwell Health uses AI for treatment planning and clinical trial matching, leveraging AI to help clinicians streamline and personalize care.
Time magazine recognized iNAV as one of the best inventions of 2024, acknowledging the significant role of early detection in improving outcomes.
"We're truly excited about this platform," Rivadeneira remarked. "I believe many health centers will consider adopting something like this."
*Dive deeper: AI's impact on customer experience during the care journey.*
Agile AI Adoption: MUSC Embarks on a Journey
In Charleston, S.C., the Medical University of South Carolina Health (MUSC) has embraced an AI platform for a growing number of use cases. Originally implemented for patient registrations, the platform has expanded to care-gap outreach and insurance authorizations.
Crystal Broj, MUSC's Enterprise Chief Digital Transformation Officer, highlights an essential aspect of AI: "Being adaptable and willing to evolve is crucial."
When MUSC introduced a copay feature to patient registrations, there were a few initial hiccups. However, by introducing features gradually, the health system could incorporate user feedback and refine the platform before unleashing it across its 700 offices statewide.
Agility extends beyond technical innovation; it's also about implementing change management. Broj notes, "It's essential that staff understands the benefits of AI and is well-equipped to utilize these new tools effectively."
In 2025, the platform sent 1.7 million reminders to patients, liberating office personnel to focus on other tasks. As MUSC identified opportunities to apply AI to care-gap outreach, it began with patients overdue for mammograms. The platform's AI agents scanned medical records and reached out to eligible patients by offering self-scheduling options.
"On a Thursday night, we rolled out this function, and by Friday morning, 129 women had scheduled appointments," Broj said.
MUSC has continued to expand the scope of its AI-enabled care-gap outreach for other health needs, such as flu shots and well-child visits. "Our goal is to make accessing healthcare as straightforward as ordering a book on Amazon," Broj explained.
Redefining Concussion Care: OSF HealthCare Partners with AI Technology
OSF HealthCare, an integrated health system covering Illinois and Michigan, is experimenting with an AI-driven app designed to accurately pinpoint signs of concussions in athletes.
Dr. Adam Cross, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria and director of the Children's Innovation Lab at Jump Trading Simulation and Education Center, highlighted the necessity for a more dependable concussion diagnosis process.
Currently, coaches rely on time-consuming self-reported symptom analysis, but this data can be influenced by a player's inclination to return to the field. So, Cross and his co-developers crafted FlightPath.
59%
This percentage represents the number of healthcare organizations that have teamed up with third-party vendors to develop custom generative AI solutions.
The mixed-reality app engages users with a gaming approach, requiring them to guide a virtual hummingbird through a 3D space. AI plays a pivotal role in collecting vast amounts of data, detecting complex user movements, and adapting the bird's movements.
Over two years, OSF HealthCare has collaborated with athletes and coaches from Illinois State University, Illinois Wesleyan University, and Bradley University to test the solution. Cross's team seeks to compare FlightPath's performance with other diagnostic tools, gathering valuable data along the way.
Rapid advancements in AI have dismantled many of the technological obstacles that once hindered early adoption. Today, Cross states, "the challenge lies in knowing how to apply all this technological muscle to meaningful problems and then leveraging them effectively in clinical practice."
*Stay tuned for insights on overcoming AI implementation hurdles in healthcare.*
Forging a New Path for Care Journeys
Navigating patients through complex health journeys plays a growing role in ensuring a smooth and effective care experience. With the help of AI, patient navigation services are becoming more essential.
Sally Werner, CEO of the nonprofit Cancer Support Community (CSC), spoke about integrating generative AI into the Open to Options chatbot. Developed with the University of Michigan Center for Health Communications Research, the chatbot assists patients in communicating with their healthcare teams, forming a personalized list of questions and concerns to address during their appointments.
A pilot study showed that patients who used the chatbot reported lower distress and anxiety and greater certainty in their questions to pose to their doctors. Now, the nonprofit is developing an AI-boosted version of the chatbot to better understand and cater to individual patients' needs.
Despite the potential of AI to foster care equity, outcomes depend on careful design and usage. According to CSC Vice President for Research Erica Fortune, "The AI we implement in healthcare will be as equitable as we make it. If AI is founded on models or data that do not represent diverse experiences across all communities, the technology itself could be prejudiced, compounding potential disparities."
- The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in the healthcare industry extends beyond healthcare delivery, reaching art and design, as demonstrated by the development of the FlightPath app, an AI-driven tool designed for concussion diagnostics in athletes.
- As AI solutions become more prevalent in healthcare, it's essential for institutions to prioritize interdisciplinary collaboration, exemplified by Northwell Health's use of AI for cancer detection, as well as treatment planning and clinical trial matching, to streamline and personalize patient care.
