i n terviews
Becoming Hyperaware Dr. Rasu Shrestha - Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President at Atrium Health - answers bold questions of our readers. Instead of a formal interview, an honest talk about technologies in healthcare. If a patient gives you a correct answer for a problem, would you rely on the patient’s response, or would you go to a more „respectable” someone who may have a compelling answer?
It’s such a privilege to work in the field of healthcare because we are here to serve human beings truly. That goal of serving is an important concept to grasp – ‘healthcare’ is about the ‘health’ of the patient, and the ‘care’ for the individual and their communities. If we understand that, we will naturally value the opportunity not just to listen and empathize, but also partner with our patients and their circle of trust, and co-chart the pa-
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tient’s personalized journey towards better health and wellbeing. We should, of course, use our professional judgment to bring in additional insights and evidencebased guidelines, but always ensure that the patient is indeed at the center of any decision we make. How do you get to real digital transformation?
The past two decades have been about moving from analog to digital, where we have replaced paper, film, and folders with their digital substitutes. While substituting analog with digital was an essential first step, real digital transfor-
mation will happen when we genuinely capitalize on the digital assets and connect the digital content from across disparate silos of data repositories and generate new insights that truly move the needle in the way that we’re practicing healthcare. Real digital transformation is about using the power of digital (algorithms, intelligent visualization, smart user interfaces) to allow us to be hyperaware, make more informed decisions, and execute the right actions at the right time in the most impactful ways. Should we build autonomous AI-based systems in healthcare?
The train has already left the station. AI is here to stay. The real focus needs to be in making sure we have the right guardrails to ensure the proper levels of governance and the right ethical considerations in the pursuit of further embracing AI in healthcare. Done right, AI will
