The 13th annual Business of Health Care conference, entitled AI, Elections and the Economy was held on February 16 at the Shalala Student Center on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables. Produced by Miami Herbert Business School, the event boasted over 600 registrants, in-person and online.
The first panel discussion of the all-day program was entitled The Promise & Perils of AI in Health Care & Professional Education and featured Julio Frenk, MD, President, University of Miami (moderator); Rony Abovitz, President and Chief Executive Officer, SynthBee, Inc.; and Latha Chandran, MD, Executive Dean, Education, Founding Chair, Department of Medical Education, Professor, Medical Education and Pediatrics, University of Miami Miller School for Medicine (Biographies of all speakers can be found HERE.)
(L to R) Julio Frenk, MD, Rony Abovitz and Latha Chandran, MD
Dr. Frenk, whose resume includes Dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Minister of Health of Mexico, introduced the topic, and set the tone for the discussion. Dr. Frenk believes there is a consensus in the U.S. that education and health care are two of the sectors that stand to gain the most from AI. He pointed out that the U.S. spends more (as a percentage of GDP) on health care than any other country, and AI offers an opportunity to rein in costs.
Mr. Abovitz, a technology pioneer and inventor (he co-founded MAKO Surgical in 2004), was the first panelist to speak. He gave a short history of artificial intelligence. Dating back to the 1940’s, AI is not new, asserted Mr. Abovitz. Since its inception, there has been a proclamation every decade that “this is the age of artificial intelligence.” After several start-ups failed to deliver over the years, Google exploded in the early 2000’s finally fulfilling the forecast. Now there are multiple players in the arena (e.g., OpenAI, Microsoft), and we are seeing some remarkable breakthroughs. However, according to Mr. Abovitz, there are many issues that need to be addressed before we can successfully apply AI to health care. “It’s not just plug and play and go.”
After noting that there is a need to ensure AI contains wisdom and that we need to be aware that there is hardware, software and human-ware, Dr. Frenk directed the discussion back to applications of AI to health care. He pointed out that medical coding as well as prior authorizations are prime targets for automation, potentially improving both the patient and provider experience.
Mr. Abovitz picked up on the human-ware theme, noting that when he launched MAKO Surgical, there was lots of resistance from clinicians, hospital administrators and patients. It’s essential that providers are convinced that AI will collaborate with humans, not replace them. Cultural acceptance is key.
The discussion then turned to AI and professional education, giving Dr. Chandran an opportunity to weigh in. Her central point was that life-long learning is an essential skill that must be developed among students. In a rapidly changing world, education acquired can quickly become obsolete. Meanwhile it’s important to understand that what students are learning in medical school today is necessary but not sufficient for a successful clinical career. Technologies like AI give the clinician an opportunity to focus on healing. Emotional intelligence is as important as IQ for future clinicians.
Dr. Frenk noted that, contrary to the beliefs of the pessimists, AI could usher in a new age of humanism in health care.
Mr. Abovitz went even further, asserting that AI has the potential to democratize health care. Free market driven artificial intelligence can bring best in class health care to the masses. If you are a radiologist or neurosurgeon this might be a threat. If you are a patient or a payer, this is exceptionally good news.
The good news is tempered however by concerns regarding the potential perils of AI. This is a titanic shift, noted Dr. Chandran, and those not committed to life-long learning will fall behind. The workforce job mix will change radically. Universal income might become a reality for those not able to adapt. Mr. Abovitz is concerned that massive amounts of capital are concentrated among a few rapidly innovating firms while government regulators are not up to speed. This mismatch creates opportunities for bad actors. He favors de-centralized democracy rather than the emergent centralized autocracy in the AI space.
Dr. Frenk advises health care professionals to embrace AI, to help build proper guard rails that encourage growth and innovation while simultaneously preventing the potential negatives. This panel discussion revealed both the AI dreams and the nightmares. “Which of those futures are realized depends on our agency today,” Dr. Frenk concluded.
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View the program agenda HERE.
View the sponsor page HERE.
Learn more about the Miami Herbert Business School HERE.
Editor’s note – Stay tuned readers. We will be posting additional stories on the other panel discussions shortly.
