Dr. Susan Huang on AI and Medicaid cuts

Chicago - Dr. Susan Huang brings deep experience as a physician and an innovator with AI.

A dermatologist, Huang serves as the chief physician executive for the Providence health system, which operates 51 hospitals and more than 1,000 clinics. In June, she will begin her new role as the president and CEO of Legacy Health, an Oregon system with six medical centers.

Several years ago, Huang also worked with Google to develop AI models in dermatology to help inform treatment of rashes and lesions.

“When we think about workforce challenges and the shortage of specialists or even care professionals, there's this opportunity for technology and AI to really help meet that need,” she tells Chief Healthcare Executive®.

“If we can leverage technologies like AI to really help augment and in some places, even help automate what we do in health care today, we can really improve the access to care that people have,” she says.

Huang attended the Becker’s Healthcare 16th Annual Meeting in Chicago this week.

“Some of the themes that have emerged include talking about the financial realities that face healthcare, the impacts of different policy changes,” she says. “That's really top of mind for a lot of the leaders and the speakers. Another topic that has really come up is the importance of leadership during these difficult times in healthcare.”

During her time in Chicago, she also spoke with Chief Healthcare Executive® about tackling the challenges ahead, the potential of AI, where caution is going to be required, and the looming cuts in Medicaid.

AI innovation

More doctors are utilizing AI in patient care, and Huang says physicians should work to get up to speed on how the technology can help them.

“I think with any new technology, it's important to get educated on it,” she says. “You know, what is AI? How does it work? What are the implications and how might it impact your practice.”

Huang says there are amazing opportunities for physicians. But she also says that there are elements of AI where doctors “need to have a little bit of skepticism.”

“You need to ask the right questions,” she says. “What are those ethical implications as well?”

“Doctors are thoughtful when they take care of a patient, so they're always thinking about these different considerations,” she says. “So this is no different. When you think about a new treatment, you think about the pros and the cons. When you think about implementing a new technology, you also have to think about, what are the pros and cons of that technology?”

Health systems also need to examine the possibilities of using AI, but they need to exercise some caution as well.

Healthcare leaders have warned that some AI tools can reflect bias and racial stereotypes, which can undercut efforts to provide equitable care.

“It’s really important to implement AI with the right safeguards so the models might be as good as the information that is out there,” Huang says.

Healthcare organizations need to have good insights on the data used in AI models.

As Huang says, “Is there a potential that whatever bias is encoded in what exists today could actually be perpetuated and even magnified in the future, as these tools are widely adopted?

“So I think having those questions ready, having the right governance, having the right safeguards, the right bodies that are able to evaluate these technologies, really is critical,” Huang says.

Preparing for Medicaid cuts

Hospitals and health systems around the country are preparing for cuts in Medicaid programs that are slated to occur over the next decade. Millions of Americans are expected to lose Medicaid coverage, and hospitals are bracing for the likelihood of less funding from state programs.

Huang says she’s worried about the impact of the cuts on the vulnerable.

“I think the Medicaid cuts are certainly of concern to our health systems today, and we serve many Medicaid patients,” she says. “And as these cuts and as new rules are implemented, what we fear is that patients on Medicaid won't be able to access the right care when they need it.”

“There might be a safety net of utilizing things like emergency rooms for care that shouldn't be taking place in emergency rooms, but really should be taking place in other settings. And when that happens, our ERs can really get overcrowded, and that means less access overall, really for all patients and for the communities too,” she says.

Health systems are going to need to think of ways to serve more patients who may not have the ability to pay.

Huang also says health systems must think about ways to intervene and help those individuals without coverage before they end up in the emergency department.

“As we prepare for potentially a rapid uptake of patients that are utilizing emergency services, we have to think beyond our four walls, and it might be thinking about who are our other partners within the communities that can help,” Huang says.

“What impacts health care might not just be the access to a medical doctor, but it could be social work services,” she continues. “It could mean having reliable food and transportation and housing as well … partnering up with community-based organizations so that there's a holistic approach to thinking about health care and prevention before this uptick of emergency room utilization occurs.”

• Read more: Why hospitals must prepare now for Medicaid cuts

(Nicole Jussen interviewed Dr. Huang in Chicago.)