Hardly a day goes by when there is not a story in the news about artificial intelligence and its impact on society. New advances in technology and applications—both exciting and scary—seem to be evolving exponentially. Rural/ community hospitals are under more pressure than ever to succeed. How can the hospital and community take maximum advantage of this emerging technology?
Artificial intelligence will affect healthcare profoundly in the next few years. Rural and community hospitals already face unprecedented challenges with the pressures of cost reduction, improving healthcare quality and access, maintaining patient satisfaction, and developing integrated networks of care. Recently, the option of becoming a Rural Emergency Hospital and closing inpatient services has been put on the table.
Dr. Berkowitz will review the basic models and concepts of AI with particular emphasis on their applications in the context of rural healthcare and community hospitals. He will discuss the
inherent biases and limitations of this technology and emphasize the importance of maintaining the human factor as one implements AI programs. He will discuss specific options for rural/community hospitals such as AI scribes, clinical decision making tools, and operational improvement opportunities, citing the best national practice
examples.
