Becker’s Health IT: ‘Robust Returns’—Cedars-Sinai’s Informatics Strategy
Becker’s Health IT recently interviewed Shaun Miller, MD, MBA, inaugural chief health informatics officer at Cedars-Sinai; Yaron Elad, MD, chief medical informatics officer; and Lisa Stephenson, MSN, RN, chief nursing informatics officer, about the hospital’s integration of health information and digital technology, including artificial intelligence (AI).
Miller told Becker’s Health IT the team’s goals are “really robust returns and improved patient outcomes and clinician efficiency.”
He touted the Epic electronic health record system, used to manage patient data and streamline clinician workflows, as one example: Cedars-Sinai is piloting AI tools to improve operational efficiency.
“We really have been good at pushing the limits of Epic and being innovative with our electronic health record, making sure clinicians are at the table for a lot of the optimization and design,” Miller said.
Consequently, he added, Cedars-Sinai physicians are widely using the technology.
Elad, a cardiologist with Cedars-Sinai Medical Group and clinical chief of the Department of Cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai, told Becker’s Health IT he aims to ensure emerging digital tools benefit patients and clinicians alike.
“These are all great, exciting new toys,” he said, “but the important thing here is: What does it do for our patients? What does it do to make our colleagues practice more effectively?”
Elad emphasized the importance of human oversight and critical thinking by healthcare providers using AI, noting, “It’s important for us to stay human as we utilize these tools.”
Stephenson told Becker’s Health IT Cedars-Sinai is focused on ensuring nurses are comfortable using AI as they grow a virtual nursing program. She said that in a recent meeting, “We did demos with nurses of some AI features that we want to pilot, so they would really understand how they work, be able to ask questions and really maintain their engagement and guidance as far as what makes sense.”
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