Importance of AI Governance in healthcare with Mitch Kwiatkowski

AI Governance in healthcare stands as a critical cornerstone in the intersection of technology and healthcare services. As artificial intelligence continues to revolutionize medical practices, ensuring a robust governance framework becomes paramount. This framework not only navigates the ethical and regulatory challenges but also orchestrates the responsible, ethical, and secure use of AI-powered tools and algorithms within the healthcare landscape.

To give us more insights on this for this week’s CDO insights we had with us Mitch Kwiatkowski, Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Marshfield Clinic Health System. With a rich background spanning over two decades in healthcare data and informatics, Mitch plays a pivotal role in spearheading data and AI initiatives at Marshfield Clinic Health System, a prominent integrated rural health system in the Midwest. Specializing in data management, AI, information governance, ethics, and more, they are instrumental in developing and implementing enterprise-wide strategies aligned with organizational goals. Collaborating seamlessly with diverse teams, he drives the creation of innovative analytic products, enhancing clinical, operational, and financial outcomes. His passion lies in fostering a culture of data excellence and promoting responsible AI use across the organization.

AIM: Before delving into AI governance in healthcare, can you help set the context by defining what AI governance means to you?

Mitch Kwiatkowski: At its core, it's really about how do we develop and use AI responsibly and ethically. I think there's different ways you could slice and dice that but at the end of the day, you're making sure that we understand, this is, I think about it in healthcare, what are we creating, what are we buying, what are we using, how are we using it and who are we using it on or for. I think those are really important things to think about and we have to have those discussions openly and honestly, in the organization. And in some cases, we may look at something and say, “Well, we can do this.” We are a highly regulated industry, there may be some things we say, Well, there's no reason we can't do this, but should we? Is this something we're comfortable doing? If we have to talk to patients about what we're doing? Why are we doing it? How comfortable are we there? So, again, it's just really making sure that it's responsible and ethical and how we're using it.