Almost 80% of provider organizations spent more on IT systems and software this year than last, yet only 6% have a plan in hand to incorporate generative AI into their digital ecosystem.

On the other hand, approximately 50% are either formulating a generative AI strategy or planning to get one going in the near future.

The figures are from a survey conducted by the Boston-based consultancy Bain & Company with an assist from KLAS Research. The duo queried 201 provider executives in June and posted their key findings Sep. 12.

Here are seven more nuggets from their summary, co-authored by Aaron Feinberg and Eric Berger of Bain with Rebecca Hammond of KLAS.

1. More than half the respondents, 56%, have software and technology as one of their top three strategic priorities.

That’s a 22% bounce over 2022’s 34%.

2. Around 75% expect growth in software and technology spending to continue over the next 12 months.

Across provider types, academic medical centers and large hospitals and health systems expect a stronger increase in their own spending than smaller operators due to a greater focus on innovation and financial flexibility.

3. Topping the list of spending drivers are technological advances and new solutions.

Patient engagement and cybersecurity solutions are much in demand, and new spending is additionally goosed by labor shortages and financial pressures.

4. About 70% of health system execs believe AI will have a greater impact on their organization this year than last.

This may signify that AI strategies are migrating from the IT department to the C-suite, possibly spurred by the emergence of generative AI in the months since the release of ChatGPT by OpenAI last fall.

5. Executives at academic medical centers tend to be further along with AI strategies and regard AI more positively.

Academics’ upbeat AI outlook manifests as expectations for better operational efficiencies, patient outcomes and cost savings.

6. Execs at less well-resourced orgs tend to worry more than their enthusiastic peers about security, privacy, cost and ethics.

Regarding barriers to deeper AI adoption, academic medical centers and large health systems worry more about clinical risk and regulatory considerations. Smaller providers fret more about iffy returns on investment, lack of internal expertise and resource constraints.

7. Across the board, top priorities for AI use cases—present and projected—tend to include those that support accurate diagnostics and sound clinical decision-making.  

Additionally, as is the case with overall IT investment priorities, providers prefer AI use cases with a strong bottom-line impact, such as predictive analytics and workflow optimization.

Read the rest.

Buzzworthy developments of the past few days.

• Use existing resources. Develop a workforce policy. Convene a steering committee. Sounds more like an HR to-do list than anything having to do with healthcare AI, doesn’t it? Nevertheless, these are three of six items legal eagles recommend for provider orgs keen on avoiding headaches with AI regulatory compliance. The authors are two attorneys writing on behalf of the Health Care Compliance Association. “Many healthcare laws with broader applications equally apply to AI,” they point out. “Risks should be assessed under such laws when considering a new AI tool.” JDSupra.com published the piece this week.
   
• Workers from all corners of healthcare possess kernels of knowledge that might gather into a better way to do healthcare AI. That seems to be the guiding vision for organizers of “Idea-thons” at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. The institution invites anyone interested from among its own people to the sessions. The conversations produce suggestions suitable for presenting to leadership. The leaders then vote on which ideas to get behind, refine and steer toward adoption. Senior VP and CIO Craig Kwiatkowski says the Idea-thons “empower our frontline caregivers and staff to shape the future of healthcare.”
   
• Only 40% of hospital executives are very confident in their programs to sniff out drug diversion. That’s what they call it when prescription drugs disappear due to worker theft, fraudulent prescriptions or other means of obtaining drugs for personal misuse or illicit sales. The finding is from a new survey from Wolters Kluwer, which also found AI helped hoist diversion detection from 29% to 56% over the past four years. And AI-armed hospitals are poised to counterpunch hard: Some 53% of executives at these sites say they’re very confident in the efficacy of their diversion detection efforts. News release.
   
• Time magazine has launched a new annual “100” list to recognize people advancing AI in laudable ways. The inaugural edition honors an AI pioneer in healthcare: radiologist Keith Dreyer, DO, PhD, chief data science officer at Mass General Brigham in Boston. The writeup of Dreyer says it’s his job to “oversee the dozens of AI-based algorithms that the health system currently uses in reading images, from strategies that are still being tested to those that have received approval from the FDA.” Read the rest.
   
• Radiology AI supplier Annalise.ai (Sydney, Australia) has received the FDA’s blessing to market brain-scan software in the U.S. with the agency’s “breakthrough device” designation. The product alerts physicians when it suspects cerebrospinal fluid building up in the brain, a condition called obstructive hydrocephalus. Company news here.
   
• Revenue cycle management vendor Aspirion (Columbus, Ga.) has acquired AI startup Infinia ML (Durham, N.C.). Aspirion says Infinia will function as an engine for research and development with an eye on improving financial performance for healthcare clients around the country. Announcement.
   
• Patient engagement healthtech company Notable (San Mateo, Calif.) has launched a large-language digital assistant. The company says its Notable Assistant can ease patients through such formerly daunting processes as finding doctors, scheduling appointments, managing prescriptions and so on. Announcement.   
   
• From AIin.Healthcare’s news partners:
   
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