Connecticut-based Hartford HealthCare has unveiled a Center for AI Innovation in Healthcare.
The health system has a wide scope. It includes two tertiary teaching hospitals, an acute care community teaching hospital, an acute care hospital and a trauma center, three community hospitals, a behavioral health network, a multispecialty physician group, a clinical care organization, and a regional home care system. , a variety of senior care services, a mobile neighborhood health program, and a physical therapy and rehabilitation network.
This makes Hartford HealthCare the ideal organization to support research and the deployment of innovative approaches, President and CEO Jeffrey A. Flaks said in a statement. “As we transform healthcare, we are taking new approaches to innovation. This center is poised to unlock the full potential of AI, ensuring every algorithm is not only intelligent, but also empathetic and ethical. We are committed to pioneering “in safety, effectiveness and affordable solutions that revolutionize patient care while improving the experience of physicians.”
The new center has five fundamental elements:
Collaborations and partnerships: Bring together an ecosystem of world-class AI partners, including MIT, Oxford University, and Google Cloud.
Research and innovation: Conduct innovative AI research focused on healthcare applications and develop algorithms for safe real-world implementation.
Integrity: Check and balance innovation opportunities with potential risks of integrating AI into clinical practice through rigorous standards and governance.
Education: Empower clinical and operational colleagues with the knowledge to safely and reliably leverage AI and educate others on its effective use.
Invention: Test and develop new AI-enabled products that safely and responsibly drive better health outcomes.
“AI is poised to profoundly reshape healthcare delivery, impacting access, affordability, equity and excellence,” Dr. Barry Stein, HHC’s chief clinical innovation officer and leader of the center, says in a statement. “Hartford HealthCare is uniquely positioned to continue defining the next frontier of AI in healthcare by unlocking its full potential in a trusted and responsible way.”
As an example of the type of work Hartford HealthCare has already done in this space, Stein described a collaboration with Prof. Dimitris Bertsimas, associate dean for analytics at MIT-Sloan, through which Hartford HealthCare Innovation developed a startup, Holistic Hospital Optimization (H2O). H2O uses AI to help healthcare providers optimize patient flow and other hospital operations, return patients home faster and safer, optimize staff time spent with patients, and free up space and services during peak demand.
The health system has also embarked on research initiatives, many of which have been translated into clinical and operational practice, including:
• Prediction of events related to COVID-19
• Predict length of hospital stay
• Predict patient deterioration
• Predict outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve surgery
• Predict secondary stroke events
• Predict outcomes of joint replacement surgery
• Optimization of nurse scheduling
• Optimization of operating room efficiency
“Hartford HealthCare’s Center for AI Innovation in Healthcare is a beacon of hope and progress, lighting the way to a future where AI empowers healthcare professionals, improves patient experiences and ultimately saves lives,” Ajay Kumar, MD, chief clinical officer at HHC, said in a statement. “This is not simply an initiative. It is a statement of intent: a commitment to lead the charge to shape a future where healthcare thrives thanks to the transformative power of AI.”
