The robot will see you now: Why clinicians need AI accountability
A recent report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Security (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) reveals a shocking reality: In the first six months of 2025, 29 million people had their patient health information (PHI) affected by a data breach. In June alone, there were 70 breaches, affecting as many as 7,609,868 people. The OCR portal showcases breaches affecting more than 500 people, and unsurprisingly, nine out of ten breaches involved hacking/IT incidents.
In a world where technology is advancing at a rapid pace and scammers are keeping pace, healthcare professionals, both clinical and non-clinical, must work together. The reality is that whether you are caring for patients at the bedside or behind the scenes, using automation will have a direct impact on care.
Understand the risks
The concept of automation itself is not new – what has changed is the various ways in which we use it to improve our lives. One question I encourage physicians and administrators to answer is “How can healthcare professionals assess AI risks themselves?” Without the proper guardrails, you and your patient population are setting yourself up for failure.
Rather than taking an automated approach of blind trust, consider a human-machine interaction strategy. Of course, there are obvious signs you can look out for, like HIPAA compliance and encryption, to head off potential scammers. But take extra steps to avoid unnecessary risks. Audits are a good way to monitor which automated programs are being used with PHI and identify violations. Employee training days are another extra step to educate colleagues on automation limitations and proper PHI handling, which may seem obvious but can pay significant dividends in the long run.
Avoid organizational silos
One of the best indicators of an organization's success with automation is its employees' ability to collaborate across departments. As a physician, there is nothing unusual for me to pick up the phone or walk down the hall to talk to the organization's chief compliance officer. This behavior encourages a culture of camaraderie among colleagues while also promoting innovation and growth. Success breeds success, and good ideas don’t need to be trapped in a vacuum.
Going a step further, I also encourage leaders to seek out other organizations in their network that are pursuing automation goals. Identify two, three or even four organizations that have successfully automated every aspect of their operations and ask them how they did it. What KPIs do they want to achieve? These insights can drive your approach.
Keep an eye on the prize
Consistency is defined as “firm adherence to the same principles, processes, forms, etc.” Rome wasn’t built in a day, so don’t expect your organization to automate everything overnight. All in all, progress beats perfection, and I find consistency in leadership is very important – does the same leader show up again and again, or do we have a cyclical replacement cycle? These factors are important to consider.
Ultimately, automation should be a means to an end. The bottom line is, whether you're patient-facing or not, your job is to make the patient experience better. If automation can help you achieve this, that’s the icing on the cake.
Photo: Tinpixels, Getty Images
Dr. Anthony Tedeschi is a physician-in-charge with more than 30 years of clinical and healthcare leadership experience. Board certified in family medicine, he began his career creating a rural clinical practice and then held executive positions spanning urban safety net hospitals, suburban health systems and national markets. He most recently served as CEO of Tenet Healthcare's Detroit market and previously led hospitals in Chicago and Detroit while serving as chief operating officer and chief marketing officer at multiple community hospitals. Earlier in his career, Dr. Tedeschi served as president and interim co-CEO of Central DuPage Hospital, where he also practiced medicine.
Known for guiding organizational transformation and performance improvement, he has held leadership positions at Cook County Health and Hospitals System and Seabury Group. Dr. Tedeschi received his MD from the University of Illinois, his MBA from Northwestern University, and his MPH from the Medical College of Wisconsin.
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