AI, Digital Transformation, and Building Scalable Innovation in Healthcare with Jason Szczuka

In thinking through where you're at today, I'm curious, from your perspective, what are some of the most powerful forces that are shaping digital health and IT for you right now? And how do you anticipate they'll evolve in the next year or so?

Yeah, that's a great question.

And when I think about it, my focus and what it transcends is really around making sure that Bon Secours Mercy Health as the deliverer of care is actually approaching digital transformation in a more practical way.

And we do that by ensuring it's mutually beneficial across all stakeholders.

So we're using AI, digital ventures and operating partnerships to make sure that we are actually improving access, experiences and efficiencies, not just for innovation's sake, but for innovation that leads to measurable work that actually gets embedded inside our health system.

So when I think about that, at a real macro level, I boil it down into three forces that I think are going to shape digital health and IT over the next few years.

And that's first is obviously when we think about AI, it has to move from experimentation to accountable workflow redesign.

Otherwise, it's just AI for AI's sake.

And I think that's where we see a lot of the slop that's permeated systems early on.

And then second, the need to improve access and experience without adding burden to clinicians.

We see so many great ideas.

that end up being dead on arrival because they're not able to compliment existing strenuous workflows that our clinicians are already facing.

So we're constantly looking to make sure we compliment and streamline wherever pressure.

And third, and let's face it, the most important one is around the financial pressures in this space.

Digital investments are gonna have to show clear operational value.

The winners are not going to be the organizations with the most pilots out and going.

They're going to be the ones that connect AI and digital tools to real operating problems with clear ownership and measurable outcomes.

We're now at that stage of the maturity curve as an industry, that that is going to be the requirement as we all plan our budgets year after year and how we're going to invest in our digital initiatives.

That makes a lot of sense.

In thinking through where you're at today, I'm curious, from your perspective, what are some of the most powerful forces that are shaping digital health and IT for you right now? And how do you anticipate they'll evolve in the next year or so?

Yeah, that's a great question.

And when I think about it, my focus and what it transcends is really around making sure that Bon Secours Mercy Health as the deliverer of care is actually approaching digital transformation in a more practical way.

And we do that by ensuring it's mutually beneficial across all stakeholders.

So we're using AI, digital ventures and operating partnerships to make sure that we are actually improving access, experiences and efficiencies, not just for innovation's sake, but for innovation that leads to measurable work that actually gets embedded inside our health system.

So when I think about that, at a real macro level, I boil it down into three forces that I think are going to shape digital health and IT over the next few years.

And that's first is obviously when we think about AI, it has to move from experimentation to accountable workflow redesign.

Otherwise, it's just AI for AI's sake.

And I think that's where we see a lot of the slop that's permeated systems early on.

And then second, the need to improve access and experience without adding burden to clinicians.

We see so many great ideas.

that end up being dead on arrival because they're not able to compliment existing strenuous workflows that our clinicians are already facing.

So we're constantly looking to make sure we compliment and streamline wherever pressure.

And third, and let's face it, the most important one is around the financial pressures in this space.

Digital investments are gonna have to show clear operational value.

The winners are not going to be the organizations with the most pilots out and going.

They're going to be the ones that connect AI and digital tools to real operating problems with clear ownership and measurable outcomes.

We're now at that stage of the maturity curve as an industry, that that is going to be the requirement as we all plan our budgets year after year and how we're going to invest in our digital initiatives.

That makes a lot of sense.