The 6 pillars of AI at Hartford HealthCare

Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare has been on a 10-year artificial intelligence journey to boost care quality and access, a leader told Becker's.

"We've built an innovation ecosystem to partner with the world's best startups and corporations," said Barry Stein, MD, vice president and chief clinical innovation officer of Hartford HealthCare. "Our goals are increasing access, affordability, equity and excellence in care — what we call A²E². Innovation is essential, and artificial intelligence is the key driver for the next decade."

The seven-hospital system, which launched a Center for AI Innovation in Healthcare in 2024, has six pillars for its AI strategy, according to Dr. Stein:

Ecosystem: Partnerships with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oxford University, Google, Amazon, and startups like Aidoc.

Portfolio: Research and validation of AI models.

Governance: Strong processes to ensure safety and compliance with regulations.

Education: Ongoing training for clinicians to use AI confidently.

Integration: Safely scaling AI into practice.

Data: Protecting patient information while enabling agile model development and integration.

Dr. Stein gave an example of an AI use case in the works: "A patient with a CAT scan showing a potential life-threatening issue would trigger real-time alerts to the radiologist, ER physician and surgeon. This improves quality, access and equity while reducing costs.

"Right now, AI often resides on the radiologist's PACS system, removed from patient care. Our goal is immediate impact.

"This improves quality, moves patients through the ER faster, increases equity, and reduces costs. It's a significant paradigm shift. We're working through challenges like training and process adjustments, but the potential for impact is enormous."

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