In this section:

Governance

Strong data and artificial intelligence (AI) governance is essential to the ethical, responsible and accurate utilization of analytic technologies. At Texas Health, we are diligently building a comprehensive governance framework that helps us:

  • Uphold ethical guidelines and principles and establish robust accountability mechanisms.
  • Foster transparency in decision-making.
  • Safeguard privacy and categorize data based on its level of sensitivity, value and the degree of protection required.
  • Monitor the entire data lifecycle, from who accesses the data, deidentification and masking practices, and how the data will be cataloged, used and maintained.
  • Review data sources to identify and address inaccuracies, inconsistencies and biases, ensuring the integrity of the data used in our AI initiatives.

Additionally, we provide system leaders with the knowledge and skills to analyze extensive data sets effectively. This empowers them to extract valuable insights and formulate strategies to improve clinical and business performance.

2023 Highlights

Texas Health:

  • Began establishing its AI governance structure by establishing an executive task force comprising clinical and technology experts. Members are creating a roadmap to evaluate and approve AI tools for systemwide use and developing processes to improve their understanding of how AI models are trained and used. They also work to reduce bias by ensuring training data is diverse and representative of the populations we are trying to serve and by implementing techniques to detect and prevent unintentional bias.
  • Created an interim policy on utilizing GPT technologies that provides guidelines until a comprehensive assessment of capabilities can be conducted.

Data

With consumer consent, we securely collect and de-identify a comprehensive range of data, including clinical, demographic and other pertinent information. This data serves multiple purposes, guiding treatment plans, evaluating outcomes and satisfaction, and determining potential services and resources necessary for optimal care. Additionally, we gather extensive business and operational data to monitor real-time performance, discern trends and anticipate emerging system needs.

When needed we augment our data with state and national data sets to boost the accuracy of analysis and predictive analytics. Pooling de-identified data across organizations offers a comprehensive view and deeper insights into trends and patterns and facilitates the development of targeted improvement strategies.

Additionally, we participate in data exchanges, where patients consent to share clinical information with other providers to save time and avoid the unnecessary repeating of tests. 

Applications

Analytic technologies empower Texas Health to provide more efficient and effective consumer care. The more we understand consumer preferences and how they make healthcare choices, the better we can design health improvement strategies and programs that best serve them. For example, these applications are being used to:

  • Enable more accurate and rapid diagnosis.
  • Identify and proactively engage high-risk individuals about programs, services and care that can help them avoid costly and extensive treatment.
  • Introduce people new to our service area to our services, providers and resources they may need proactively.
  • Navigate consumers to appropriate resources and support based on their interests and needs .
  • Capture consumers’ previous interactions with Texas Health so we don’t have to repeatedly ask for insurance, images and health history information.

For Texas Health, these tools allow us to:

  • Drive efficiencies across the system by automating tasks and optimizing workflows, which also lowers costs.
  • Monitor potential safety hazards, staffing availability, patient volumes, supply consumption, costs, performance, utilization and other key measures in near-real-time to address potential risks before they escalate.
  • Identify regional healthcare needs so we can expand capabilities and services where needed most.
  • Benchmark performance and make refinements.
  • Identify disparities and close health equity and care quality gaps.
2023 Highlights

Texas Health:

  • Continued working to reduce patients' length of stay by leveraging AI to generate a real-time summary of clinical issues and facilitate alignment and collaboration among every care team member. AI also produces an accurately predicted discharge date so social workers and care managers can work toward that timeline and identify barriers to be addressed before patients go home.  
  • Piloted using ambient-listening AI technology in emergency departments, allowing providers to concentrate on patient conversations instead of manual data entry. It has been used successfully at Texas Health Physicians Group and we are working on expanding its use.

Snapshot: Ambient-Listening Technology is Transforming the Consumer and Provider Experience

For the past two years, Texas Health Physicians Group providers have used ambient AI technology, a catalyst for efficiency and improved healthcare experiences. The tool captures and transcribes conversions during the exam, which are sent to a data specialist to integrate into the electronic medical record. This frees physicians from documentation burdens, allowing them to focus on patients’ needs.

With over 200,000 patient visits, this AI-driven marvel has been a game-changer. Patients are singing its praises, evident in improved Net Promoter Scores (a metric that measures customer loyalty and satisfaction). Providers also benefit from stronger patient relationships and improved work-life balance.