Page 15 - SFHN0418 final36p.qxp_SFHN 0608 Friday 5.0

DCOTA I 1855 Griffin Road, Suite A-415 I Dania Beach I Florida I 33004
954.964.1660 I www.SFHHA.com
A message from

our President Use of Artificial Intelligence

(AI) Technology in the
Where Is Healthcare Headed in 2018?
Cybersecurity Field
One of the great things about this job is that I get reports
and articles from many corners of healthcare. One report that The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in the cyber-
I look forward to is prepared by PwC Health Research security field is not something new. We often use AI in security
Institute which examines current trends and attempts to iden- systems without knowing it. For example, spam applications
tify what the top industry issues will be for the year. are using AI technology to understand the content of emails to
Entitled, “Top health industry issues of 2018: A year for distinguish between good and bad e-mails. Also, threat intelli- By Silka Gonzalez
resilience amid uncertainty,” researchers look from the 20,000 gent systems are often using data mining and AI technology to analyze cyber threats.
foot level at hot and trending healthcare issues. While there Furthermore, data mining tools extract valuable information from systems and AI tech-
are 12 issues that PwC covers in its report, I want to share nology uses such extracted information to improve the systems own understanding of
some of the information they assembled on the first four. the data and its performance. Nevertheless, AI technology is still not widely spread.
First, and I think that most people are now in agreement, In the past, hackers were mostly isolated individuals who wanted to demonstrate their
the opioid crisis is a full blown public health emergency. For skills bypassing the security controls of organizations or activists fighting for specific
adults in the United States younger than 50, it is the leading causes. But, today hackers are well-organized. Now hacking is a profitable endeavor with
cause of death! No longer are traffic crashes the major taker of Jaime Caldwell many resources (manpower, money, technology, governments) that are not an even
life. Prescription opioids were responsible for almost half of match to most organizations. Their attacks are becoming more sophisticated, creative,
the 64,000 deaths in that age range in 2016. What researchers concluded is that it is and difficult to prevent.
going to take considerable refinement of population health determinates and reaching For instance, imagine a network that can dynamically change its configurations to
out to other community programs to make a difference. Acting independently will not evade or prevent attacks from hackers. This level of control could be achieved by using
solve the problem. Big Data, AI, Software Defined Networking (SDN), Intent-Based Networking Systems
What they also focus on is the way we currently treat chronic pain. What I didn’t know (IBNS), and virtualization. Also, the power of quantum computers can use AI technol-
is that one out of every four patients treated using opioids for chronic pain “struggles ogy in the cybersecurity field in ways we cannot imagine yet.
with addiction.” Aetna has implemented a five-year plan to improve the way we treat In the future, AI technology can be used in many different ways to improve the sales
chronic pain, determine how to reduce the amount of opioids currently being pre- process, methods, and resources used by the sales function of organizations. For
scribed, and provide more support to patients experiencing an opioid use disorder. instance, AI technology can be used to constantly analyze types of trends in the industry,
Second, population health is here to stay. Greater emphasis is going to be placed on competitors’ activities, and digital initiatives, social media data, customer behavioral pat-
identifying which social determinates affect utilization patterns, which influence seeking terns, cybersecurity, and trends in sales to better adapt the sales of products and services
of preventive services, and changing the way people seek emergent/primary care from for organizations.
hospital emergency departments to lower cost alternatives. In this case, as is the case Also, the use of AI technology and cybersecurity will be a major priority for sales and
with opioids, it is a community challenge and not only a hospital challenge. company growth in the future. Protecting customer information and sales information
Third, something that Florida has worked toward developing is greater price trans- with cybersecurity will be critical for organizations. As cyber threats are changing con-
parency (this will be a subject of an SFHHA program later this year). Across the country, stantly, AI technology can be used to analyze the ever-changing landscape of cyber
states are becoming more active in trying to influence price increases. Some states are threats to ensure organizations can be more secure and maintain customer trust.
actively trying to control prices while others are requiring very visual reporting of signif- Such level of technology will provide organizations with the ability to be more com-
icant price increases. A significant number of these initiatives are focused on prescription petitive, efficient, effective, and profitable. Organizations will be collecting a massive vol-
price increases, but, many states are focusing on their hospitals providing more clarity ume of information that AI and cyber technology can analyze and filter to be used and
with respect to hospital costs. sold to third parties using different types of business models. Additionally, the use of AI
And, fourth, and the theme for our 2018 SFHHA Healthcare Summit, the development technology, on-going analysis of data, and the introduction of new emerging technolo-
of emergency management and response plans for responding to natural disasters. What gies will create new services and products for organizations that will create new sources
became evident after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria is that hospitals can experience of sales and revenue.
interruption of their supply chain, interruption of their revenue cycle, damaged physical We can expect that the future increased use of AI technology will transform healthcare
plants, displaced workers, and a whole host of other factors. We have become compla- organization’s systems architecture, hardware, software, applications, cybersecurity, and
cent in the ten years of calm leading up to 2017 and hospital and post acute care ultimately the sales field.
providers will be taking more time and spending more resources to prepare for the next Silka Gonzalez is the founder and president of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM).
disaster. The content of this article was developed by ERM. For additional information, please
This is a great report and I highly recommend it for a quick read.
contact ERM at (305) 447-6750 or sgonzalez@emrisk.com or visit www.emrisk.com
2018 BOARD OF DIRECTORS IN MEMORY OF

CHAIRMAN: David Wagner, Kindred South Florida Market CEO
VICE CHAIRMAN: Mark Doyle, Chief Executive Officer, Memorial Hospital Pembroke
SECRETARY: William "Bill" Duquette, Chief Executive Officer, Homestead Hospital, Baptist Health South Florida Enrique Vicens-
TREASURER: Charles Felix, Publisher, South Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report
IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR: Chantal Leconte, Chief Executive Officer, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Rivera, JD, MHSA
AT-LARGE: Ben Riestra, Chief Administrative Officer, UHealth’s Lennar Foundation Medical Center
AT-LARGE: Joel Wherley, Chief Operating Officer, VITAS
It is with great sadness and regret
Doug Bartel, MBA Patricia Greenberg Patrick Taylor, MD
Sr. Director of Business Development, Media President Chief Executive Officer that we announce the passing of
and External Relations National Healthcare Associates Holy Cross Hospital
Florida Blue Enrique Vicens-Rivera, Chief
Ralph A. Marrinson, NHA, FACHA Steven Ullmann Executive Officer of HealthSouth
Wael Barsoum, M.D. President Director
Chief Executive Officer Marrinson Group University of Miami Health Policy Miami, and South Florida Hospital
Cleveland Clinic Hospital Management
Lincoln Mendez and Healthcare Association Board
Kevin Conn Chief Executive Officer Ana M. Viamonte Ros, M.D. Member. He was an invaluable
Regional Vice President of Operations South Miami Hospital Medical Director for Palliative Care
HEALTHSOUTH Corporation and Bioethics member of the SFHHA Board
Charles Michelson Baptist Health South Florida of Directors, esteemed colleague
Darcy Davis Partner
Chief Executive Officer Saltz Michelson Architects and good friend to all in the
Health Care District of Palm Beach County
Aristides (Ardy) Pallin healthcare community.
Michael Gittelman Chief Operating Officer
Chief Executive Officer Catholic Health Services
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute

South Florida Hospital News southfloridahospitalnews.com April 2018 15