Cleveland Clinic hires a Chief AI Officer, but I'm wondering, do you think your system needs a Chief AI Officer?
Today in health, it we're going to take a look at. The chief AI officer turns out that Cleveland clinic just hired a chief AI officer. We're going to talk about that a little bit. My name is bill Russell. I'm a former CIO for a 16 hospital system and creator of this week health set of channels and events dedicated to transform health care.
One connection at a time. Today's show is brought to you by artist site one platform, infinite possibilities for improving healthcare. Our insights platform unlocks endless ways to relieve tension, reduce friction and make clinicians jobs easier. From telemedicine to virtual nursing and beyond explore the artist site platform.
You can check it out at this week. house.com/artist site. Hey, this new story and all the new stories for cover, you can find on this week, health.com/news. Check it out today. And then a F on the some of you have been asking me about Alex's lemonade stand. We are approaching our $150,000 mark.
So check that out on our website top right-hand column. Go ahead and click on that. You could see our progress. See who has given down at the bottom. There's a whole board of people that have given. And we'd love to have you be a part of that. Go ahead and click on that gift today. One last thing. Share this podcast with a friend or colleague used as a foundation for daily or weekly discussions on the topics that are relevant. To you and the industry, a form of mentoring, they can subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. All right, let's get to it. This won't be long it's essentially Cleveland clinic names.
First chief AI officer. So Cleveland clinic has appointed. Ben Shasha Shawnee. PhD as its first chief artificial intelligence officer to spearhead AI implementations across the health system. With over two decades of experience in AI and machine learning gesture, shiny we'll develop an execute, an enterprise AI strategy aimed at improving patient care, caregiver experience and organizational efficiencies. He reports to the chief digital officer which is separate from the chief information officer, just for clarity. Shasha shiny.
We'll focus on leveraging AI. While adhering to safety, ethical standards and data security regulations. His previous roles include senior positions at Sirius XM. Pandora, Verizon media Yahoo. Google nuance and IBM. So that's the summary. You can find that on our website and then you can read the full story. Out on Becker's.
I believe. Yep. Pretty sure. So let's let's break this down. Should you hire a chief AI officer? First of all, I think. The fact that it is a Cleveland clinic should indicate to you that it is a system of beans. It is a system that is academic in nature. It is a system that is a brand based.
So it's a brand system, meaning that they are driven by their brand, their destination for healthcare. So having this kind of moniker, having this kind of specialist. On board adds a certain cachet to it. And the reason I talk about those things is not to say that it's wrong or right. But it is to say that there's reasons that Cleveland clinic is heading in this direction. And some of it could be brand related.
Some of it could be the focus of there. Style and brand of delivering medicine requires this level of person to get things done. It could be cultural, it could be requires this level. Chief title in order to get something done within the organization. It could indicate, I don't know any number of things that go on within the four walls of the health system. I'm going to try to break this out a little bit and explore what it means to the rest of the industry. It's interesting.
I'm just going to go through this a little bit at a time. So Cleveland clinic has appointed. Ben Shasha Shawnee. PhD. All right. So do you need a PhD as a chief artificial intelligence officer? Potentially, and this is a person with 20 years experience in AI and machine learning across several industries. Including healthcare. And so do you need somebody with that kind of pedigree? It really, again, it depends if you're a branded organization, that could be what you're looking for.
I don't think you need this level of pedigree. To do AI machine learning. And just various models across your health system. I think what you need is a plan. You already have smart. A plan. You already have smart people within the organization. You have people with specializations that you can bring together and then your role would be to get that group educated. So bring in the experts that can educate them, take them to conferences that they can be educated, get them in front of people that are going to be able to share best practices and what's going on so that they are educated because when you take your smart people and educate them, And I believe they can learn and understand this.
Maybe not at a deep mathematics and programming level, but they can understand this and how it applies, what the challenges are, what the risks associated with it are. And so what this requires is a leader that can bring the right people together within an organization. I don't think a chief AI officer is required for many health systems.
If not most health systems. Again, if you're a branded health system, if you're an academic medical center, perhaps it helps you to get things done. In that culture in that environment. And you can explore that. I think the fact that we continue to add chiefs only creates a structure that has a tendency, the more structure and the more chiefs to create. The more tendency there is to have conflict.
The more tendency there is to have a fiefdoms and budget battles and those kinds of things. And what you want is you want to maintain momentum. And eliminate the friction that happens within the organizational structure. So I don't think you need a chief AI officer per se. To do that. Let's go on and read a couple more things. Two decades experience AI and machine learning.
So let's look at the experience serious at Sirius XM, Pandora, Verizon Mead Verizon media, Yahoo. Google nuance and IBM. Okay. If you are looking for artificial intelligence expertise, do you have to look outside of healthcare? And again, I don't think you do, but you may want to, from an education standpoint, you may want to educate your clinical and your leaders, your administrative leaders within the organization. From outside perspectives. Because again, they've utilized machine learning and AI effectively they've built experiences for their consumers, which we would call patients in a lot of cases. And so they will have insights into how to utilize data. What's required in order for that data to be effective. How you can utilize it for building out those experiences, how you can enable workflows to run smoother. To automate those workflows at a different level than RPA with, again, with with artificial intelligence and machine learning, taking that to the next level. Again, I, outside of the industry might have different perspectives that are, you're going to find very helpful. And again, I just think that is beneficial.
I think there's a specific healthcare meetings for AI right now that are beneficial. I think there's an AI community that's starting to form. Not even starting to form that has formed. And there's multiple coalitions, there's multiple work groups and whatnot that you could join and be a part of.
And then bring that knowledge back to your health system. So again, look outside, look inside. We looked at that reporting it to the chief digital officer. This this will indicate that Cleveland clinic has decided to really bifurcate the digital roles, right? So they have a chief information officer, and they're saying that person is in charge. Of implemented technology that has been implemented and gone through the cycle and somebody needs to run that and make it effective.
That's the chief information officer role. The chief digital officer role is about transformation and introducing new methods, new practices, new tools. And then the, having the chief artificial intelligence officer underneath the chief digital officer, which I, again chief. Kind of situation, I think indicates that they believe there is so much potential within the AI space that they need somebody dedicated to it at that level.
And if you're going to hire a PhD with 20 years of data, digital art data experience, and those kinds of things, you're going to end up with a chief title. That person is not going to look at you and say, oh, sure, I'll be a director. You may find somebody who's willing to be a VP, but at the end of the day this probably represents that the necessity for that title to get things done within the organization. And potentially the fact that they hired somebody, the person's at a chief level, not necessarily the roles at a chief level.
I don't know that I don't have any special knowledge. I don't. I'm making. Again, based on the article. I like the the focus areas. AI safety, ethical standards, data security regulations, and those kinds of things. I think it's interesting that it doesn't really go down. The path of talking about where AI. Could be applied within healthcare.
So now. They're going to create that framework that keeps us safe and keeps the patient safe. Keeps the clinicians are protected. They're going to operate within the regulatory framework that's required within healthcare. But I think this person. We'll also, again, build a coalition. Even if I was coaching this person, they would build a coalition within the health system.
They would bring those people together. They would become the champions. They would educate that group of people. And they would identify opportunities. They would identify opportunities and then they would identify a framework for evaluation of those technologies, identifying the risks associated with those technologies and rolling out those technologies. So I'm not down on the concept of somebody who is leading an initiative within your health system. I might be down on the the. The need for adding another chief and adding another fiefdom and potentially some politics around it. And budget battles, but I am definitely for standing up. Within your organization, a body of people that are evaluating artificial intelligence that are leaning into the education that's required in order to really understand this and where it's going.
So again, interesting move from Cleveland clinic. I think we'll see academic institutions continue to go down this path, but I would not jump on this bandwagon if I was not an academic institution. If I was a integrated delivery network. Of even any size, even large size. I'm not sure I would head down this path.
I understand why it might be necessary in an academic medical center, but I do not see the need for such a role in a. Integrated delivery network. My 2 cents. And that may be. What it's worth, we will see. All right. That's all for today. Don't forget. Share this podcast with a friend or colleague, use it as a foundation for mentoring and discussion. We want to thank artists for choosing to invest in our mission to develop the next generation of health leaders. And you can check them out at this week.
health.com/artist site. A great. Artificial intelligence and machine learning company worth taking a look 📍 at all right. That's it. Thanks for listening. That's all for now.