With all the chatter surrounding AI in healthcare – the good and the bad – there is now a focus in today’s health systems to form Advisory Boards to help dissect and navigate through this new and exciting time. Healthcare leaders are having to weigh the benefits and consequences of the evolving technology, and at times need to be properly equipped with guidance and knowledge to integrate different AI tools responsibly.

One of the major hospital systems that has decided to utilize this new AI Advisory Board is AdventHealth. AdventHealth is a Florida-based health system and they utilize a cross-functional team of experts that consist of physicians, IT experts, data scientists, and the health system vendors.

AdventHealth is a non-profit healthcare system that operates over 50 hospitals in nine states and serves close to 7 million patients annually. In 2021, their revenue was nearly $15 billion dollars. Rob Purinton, is the vice president of analytics and performance improvement at AdventHealth, and leads the health system’s AI Advisory Board.

The main purpose of the Advisory Board is to help support the organizations goals. The board can achieve this in a number of ways, which include; providing insight into some of the more complex decisions that their hospital is facing, provide wise and informed counsel, and in the field of AI; educate those involved on the options that are available to the network as a whole. In AdventHealth’s case, their clinical leaders end up becoming well-informed advocates for the tools they are ultimately deciding to implement within their healthcare system.

AI tools are being used to address various health problems and physician burnout. AI and machine learning are helping providers improve diagnostic accuracy and upholding patient safety. One of the important considerations regarding AI (in healthcare) is that not all problems require AI as a solution. In medicine, not every traditional algorithm needs to be replaced with machine learning. By having a well-educated and informed Advisory Board, AdventHealth has taken the necessary steps, where physicians within the health system can ask questions (regarding the AI tools) directly to the vendors. More often than not, some of the vendors will be on the board as well.

An advantage of having a board that consists of a cross-functional team (some will actually be responsible for using and implementing the AI tools), is that the team will have in-depth analysis/discussion on the processes and functionality of the AI tools that are being considered. This new era in technology has created an environment where hospital networks are continuously learning from new technology daily. Purinton has said that one of the most challenging aspects his hospital system has faced is that where the practice of putting a machine learning model into daily operations is as challenging as building it in the first place.

Machine learning continues to evolve healthcare systems by helping medical professionals streamline workflow processes and provide a continued focus on how to best implement AI technology. When there is an active Advisory Board familiar and educated with the workflow processes, AI technology models can be better understood and incorporated more successfully. If machine learning can increase the predictive accuracy that providers so desperately need, then the process will have come full circle and the Advisory Board has achieved its purpose by staying true to the organizations mission, as well as supporting the organizations goals.