West Des Moines, Iowa-based UnityPoint Health signed up for Mayo Clinic’s new AI innovation program to “jumpstart” the health system’s digital evolution, a leader told Becker’s.
The 35-hospital system became the first organization to join Mayo Clinic Platform_Insights, a new offering to guide other healthcare providers on their AI and digital journeys.
“It’s the type of collaboration we want to bring in terms of improving patient experience and really accelerating and advancing the care quality initiatives we already have and help us on our digital transformation journey,” said Gregory Johnson, MD, chief medical officer of UnityPoint Health.
UnityPoint looks forward to gaining more predictive analytics, EHR-integrated consultative support, and advanced, evidence-based care pathways, Dr. Johnson said.
For example, predictive analytics can assist with earlier identification of heart failure deterioration and dysrhythmia risk and image interpretation, he said. The EHR-fused support will be built into Epic — a vendor the systems share — and provide real-time, in-workflow clinical insights. Care pathways can boost oncology, cardiovascular care and other complex service lines.
Dr. Johnson said Mayo was a good fit because of its prestige and technological know-how, as well as its geographic similarities. The two health systems are based in neighboring states and have big Midwestern presences, both serving rural areas that can benefit from the healthcare access these digital tools can create.
“They understand rurality in a way that is meaningful to us,” Dr. Johnson said. “This allows us to really just deliver better care closer to home.”
Dr. Johnson said that while AI powers a lot of these solutions, the collaboration is about more than just that technology. UnityPoint already has ambient listening so doesn’t need help launching that capability. He declined to specify dollar figures for the Mayo contract.
“If we were to talk years down the road, what I hope this will have accomplished is speed to treatment, earlier and more accurate diagnosis, and the confidence that we’re getting that consistently,” Dr. Johnson said. “Are we keeping [patients] out of the hospital? Are we having lower complication rates? Are we delivering safer care? All of those are the things I’m really most excited about for this collaboration.”
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