From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— Children’s Wisconsin is taking a measured approach to integrating AI, embracing the technology’s applications in medicine while remaining cautious about potential pitfalls.
That’s according to President and CEO Gil Peri, who addressed members of the Rotary Club of Milwaukee yesterday during the group’s latest meeting.
The health system is currently developing its strategic roadmap, which will be released by the end of the year. Peri said a major element of that plan involves “adopting a lot more technology to expand our care model” in the state.
He emphasized the potential for AI to help care teams “work top-of-scope” by taking over certain tasks and freeing up their time.
“If I can eliminate 20% of their daily workload that is maybe bottom of scope — not important, waste of time in their view, they will tell us that — then that means they spend more time with kids,” he said. “Or more time at home, or going to a soccer game that fills their bucket with joy, and comes back refreshed the next day.”
At the same time, the health system is exploring the use of AI in clinical applications, to improve decision-making speed and effectiveness.
“You see health care lagging a lot in AI, because of all the regulatory and risk we have. If we don’t do it right, it’s not like it’s a widget, we’re talking about somebody’s life,” he said. “So we’re very careful about it. That being said, we are making sure we are embracing it and understanding where there’s evidence that it works, we are going to be adopting it.”
Peri also noted potential applications for AI in community outreach, noting both the patients it serves and their parents are “digital natives” and the health system needs to connect with them on their own terms.
“If we’re not digital, we’re invisible in our industry,” he said. “So we’ve got to make sure when we engage with our patients and families, we have the right digital tools, the right predictive algorithms from an AI perspective to allow us to speak their language.”
In response to an audience question about the impact of private equity on health care, Peri said these firms are often seeking to address commercial markets with an unmet need for urgent care. He said these providers typically have a narrow focus and execute it well, but then “expect partners to do the rest.”
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— Dem gubernatorial candidate Missy Hughes today released a health care plan that includes allowing the public to buy into BadgerCare and eliminating co-pays for chronic condition prescriptions, including insulin.
The former secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. also called for banning private equity firms from acquiring hospitals, clinics and other healthcare providers. She argued consolidations drive up costs.
Hughes is the latest Dem gubernatorial candidate to call for a public option. Her release didn’t include a price tag for the move. She also called for expanding the eligibility thresholds for BadgerCare, which serves low-income children, pregnant women and families, to allow more individuals and families to qualify.
Other provisions in the plan include:
- Creating a state program to import prescription drugs from Canada.
- Repealing the state’s 1849 abortion ban, which isn’t being enforced after the state Supreme Court found subsequent abortion laws had superseded the statute. She also called for a constitutional amendment to codify the right to an abortion, contraceptives and IVF.
- Banning insurance companies from using AI to deny care recommended by a doctor.
- Directing state resources to Wisconsin universities and tech hubs to offset federal research cuts.
- Actively recruiting federal health experts displaced by the Trump administration to work in Wisconsin’s public health infrastructure.
- Ensuring all recommended vaccines remain available in Wisconsin amid a push under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy to change the U.S. childhood immunization schedule, among other moves.
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