Becker's Hospital Review

26 INNOVATION "e experience of knowing that another human being understands our ailment and empathizes with us has been shown to have therapeutic effects on its own," he said. "While AI can greatly enhance many aspects of healthcare, it should not be involved in situations requiring complex ethical judgments, end-of-life care decisions, informed consent processes, and human compassion." Robots — or AI — will simply never take the place of that human touch, health system leaders say. "Human involvement is going to be enabled and empowered with AI," Mr. Depa said. "Nurses and physicians will get more and more data to help them make more timely and accurate decisions for patients and their families. At the end of the day, physicians and nurses are still going to be in demand. ey're helping to communicate that decision with the patient and, of course, come up with the right decision with the patient as well." n Cleveland Clinic deepens quantum exploration By Naomi Diaz C leveland Clinic is launching a new initiative utilizing quantum technologies and artificial intelligence for clinical applications. Cleveland Clinic is partnering with the Novo Nordisk Foundation, a Denmark company focused on medical treatment and research, to launch the Cleveland Clinic – Denmark: Quantum-AI Biomedical Frontiers Fellowship Program. Under the program, the Novo Nordisk Foundation will award up to $6.2 million over the next three years to facilitate the exchange of 12 researchers, according to an Aug. 5 news release from Cleveland Clinic. Each researcher will receive a three-year term to conduct advanced research at either Cleveland Clinic or in Denmark. In Cleveland, the fellows will also have the chance to collaborate with IBM researchers through Cleveland Clinic's Discovery Accelerator partnership. The program will work to harness quantum technologies and AI to focus on scientific areas such as enhanced diagnostic precision, innovative drug discovery, optimization of clinical trials, and personalized medicine development. n Why Kaiser Permanente has 35 clinics at Target By Giles Bruce K aiser Permanente's partnership with Target shows that health systems don't have to sacrifice quality of care for convenience, a Permanente Federation executive wrote in Medical Economics. The Oakland, Calif.-based health system has 35 clinics at Target stores in southern California, offering patients the type of easy-to-access retail healthcare they crave and giving Kaiser Permanente members another access point, according to the July 26 article by Ramin Davidoff, MD, executive medical director and chair of the Southern California Permanente Medical Group and co-CEO of the Permanente Federation. "Return rates to primary and urgent care after a visit to a Target Clinic are just slightly higher than that of adult primary care, which demonstrates that the clinics are resolving most patient problems effectively," Dr. Davidoff wrote. "That fact alone suggests we are expanding healthcare capacity for the whole health system." While the clinics are open to all patients, Kaiser Permanente members have the added benefit of being connected to their medical records through the health system's EHR and can have follow-up appointments scheduled for them there for other Kaiser providers, he said. n New CEO at hospital-at-home company backed by Mayo, Kaiser By Giles Bruce A hospital-at-home company backed by Rochester, Minn.- based Mayo Clinic and Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente has a new chief executive. Medically Home, which counts more than 20 health systems as clients, named Graham Barnes its president and CEO. He replaces co- founder Rami Karjian, who heads to an advisory role at the company. Mr. Barnes has led multiple private equity- and venture capital-backed health tech firms to successful exits. "His track record of growing and nurturing healthcare companies gives us deep confidence in his ability to elevate Medically Home and build on the strong market position that has been achieved to date," said Maneesh Goyal, chair of Medically Home and COO of Mayo Clinic Platform, in an Aug. 1 statement. "We would also like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Rami Karjian for his dedication and leadership bringing Medically Home to where it is today." Medically Home has grown into one of the largest hospital-at-home logistics and technology vendors, serving over 40,000 patients to date. Mayo Clinic and Kaiser Permanente invested $100 million in the company in 2021 and participated in its $110 million funding round in 2022. n

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