[Webinar] AI Governance with RUSH, American Hospital Association and AVIA
AVIA
Insights
Generative AI vs. Reality: Bridging the Gap in Healthcare Transformation
AVIA
Insights
AVIA
Generative AI holds immense promise for healthcare. From enhancing patient care to streamlining operations, this technology has the potential to redefine how health systems function. However, implementing AI successfully is far more complex than many healthcare systems expect.
At AVIA, we’ve seen firsthand the hurdles healthcare leaders face when navigating AI deployment. Over 45 health systems rely on AVIA to accelerate their digital transformation. Our National Gen AI Collaborative (including more than 30 health systems) helps bridge the gap between AI’s potential and the challenges of practical adoption, with over 7,000 hours dedicated to unpacking AI’s complexities.
Leaders must grapple with educating and aligning executives and staff on AI’s capabilities, risks, opportunities, and limitations. This process is daunting, requiring more than just enthusiasm for AI—it demands a fundamental shift in strategy.
Many health systems struggle to build the necessary foundation, often launching AI initiatives without first ensuring that leadership is knowledgeable about AI and aligned with long-term goals. Without this alignment, AI implementations are likely to stall, producing disjointed or short-lived efforts that fail to deliver expected results.
As such, a top-down approach is essential to ensure executives and staff have a common understanding of AI terms and definitions and are strategically aligned. Executives must support and integrate AI initiatives into the organization’s long-term strategy. But it’s not just about deploying AI but also ensuring that AI solutions align with the health system’s broader goals and vision.
To facilitate this, AVIA’s 8-week Gen AI Accelerator Program provides critical tools, frameworks, and market insights that help health systems fast-track AI governance and responsible use. Health systems that prioritize education and team alignment early on are better positioned to unlock AI’s potential, leading to more impactful and sustainable outcomes.
AI’s true value comes when it’s scaled across the organization, but this requires more than pilot projects. AI must be strategically integrated into every corner of a health system’s operations—from clinical care to administrative processes. However, 70% of health systems are struggling to organize AI at scale, even after initial implementation. Only by aligning AI initiatives with the organization’s long-term goals can health systems fully realize AI’s benefits.
At AVIA, we recommend starting with a centralized approach to AI governance. By initially having a dedicated group oversee deployment, health systems can ensure consistency, establish clear standards, and create a strong governance framework. This centralized structure helps build foundational policies and best practices that will lay the groundwork for future scaling.
Once these foundations are in place, health systems can begin empowering individual departments to incorporate AI into their specific workflows. Tailoring AI solutions to each department’s unique needs promotes broader integration, though achieving this requires strategic investment in financial and IT infrastructure to support AI at scale.
To maximize impact, AI must be embraced throughout the organization as another tool to solve business problems. Department leaders and team members must become comfortable with AI. AVIA’s Operational Communities of AI Adoption provides health systems with a six-month program to accelerate AI adoption across departments like Marketing, HR, Finance, IT, and more.
By fostering collective learning and strategic execution, AVIA helps build organizational confidence, creating a scalable foundation for long-term AI success across health systems.
Embracing AI’s transformative potential is no longer a question of if but how. Health systems must navigate various challenges. However, addressing the hurdles demands a comprehensive, structured approach.
One major obstacle is the absence of clear regulatory frameworks. Without federal and state AI legislation, health systems are left to self-regulate, balancing innovation with legal risks. This uncertainty often results in hesitation, as some organizations adopt a “wait and see” approach. However, delaying AI adoption puts them at a disadvantage compared to competitors already advancing.
Proactively managing AI risks while embracing its potential is key to staying competitive. Even though state and federal legislative bodies will eventually establish guidelines for ethical AI use, health systems must act now. Building robust internal governance structures that anticipate evolving standards ensures these organizations are well-positioned to lead in the future.
Through the Gen AI Strategic Collaborative, AVIA has united more than 20 health systems to share insights, expand AI use cases, and strengthen internal AI governance. The results are clear: 95% of participants reported increased confidence in deploying AI, 90% established mechanisms to review AI solutions (a 20% increase), and 69% formalized governance structures to mitigate risks.
According to McKinsey, 90% of health systems see transformation as a top priority, yet 75% struggle to achieve this goal. This gap presents an opportunity for those willing to embrace AI’s potential and do what is necessary.
Generative AI, in particular, can boost productivity, streamline operations, and foster innovation. However, health systems risk falling behind without a concerted effort to upskill staff, integrate AI into workflows, and mitigate risks.
At AVIA, we are committed to helping healthcare organizations navigate these complexities. Our programs, like the Gen AI Strategic Collaborative and the 8-week Gen AI Accelerator Program, are designed to help fast-track AI initiatives, establish robust governance, and provide the operational support needed to scale AI.
Education and Upskilling: Through our 8-week Gen AI Accelerator Program, AVIA helps health systems develop the foundational knowledge required for informed AI adoption. Tailored educational materials, market insights, and expert guidance ensure that health systems are equipped to navigate AI’s complexities from the outset.
Governance and Risk Management: Through the Gen AI Strategic Collaborative with over 20 leading health systems, healthcare organizations push the boundaries of AI expertise, expand use cases, and gain actionable insights. AVIA has developed frameworks to mitigate risks, promote responsible AI use, and ensure AI solutions are deployed safely and scalably—in a landscape where AI regulations are still evolving.
Enterprise-Wide AI Adoption: AVIA’s vision for AI extends beyond individual departments. We work with healthcare organizations to implement AI across clinical, operational, and administrative processes. The Operational Communities of AI Adoption program supports health systems in scaling AI enterprise-wide, ensuring each department can adapt AI to meet its specific needs.
By acting now, health systems can ensure they are not merely following the wave of AI transformation but leading it.
