Patient Engagement and AI Beyond the Clinical: A Chat with Sam Hanna

Most of the patient engagement and AI conversation centers around direct interactions with clinicians, but that’s only part of the picture. The vast majority of engagement with healthcare — from the patient financial experience to scheduling and education — happens outside the clinical space.

Vendors who want to build effective products and services need a clear understanding of what that space looks like and how it’s evolving. That’s why, after his inspiring talk at HIMSS19, I sat down with Sam Hanna, Associate Dean at American University, and Executive Adviser at Alphabet and Amazon, to learn more.

1.You’re an advocate for moving away from transactional patient engagement, especially when implementing AI solutions. What does that look like when clinicians aren’t in the picture?

Sam: Much of our discussion around precision medicine and machine learning focuses on how it can help the clinician. Unfortunately, that omits the almost 80% of the healthcare workforce that isn’t clinical. For insight, we can find guidance in other industries where there aren’t clinicians — industries like tech, financial services, and areas like HR, operations, and analytics.

The challenge for healthcare is to not relegate AI and patient engagement to the clinical side but to use tools like predictive analytics to prepare and analyze data. A strong use case for the revenue cycle side is applying AI to understand which patients have a higher propensity to pay than others. Unlike many applications on the clinical side, we can do this right now. The technology is in our hands; we just have to be smart about using it and packaging it in the best way possible.

Everything doesn’t have to be about intelligent machines reading X-rays. We can talk about engaging patients so paying a bill isn’t a burden, and we can do that today.

2.How do data and analytics enable a superior patient experience from a non-clinical perspective?

Sam: The most inspiring thing about data and analytics is that we have real opportunity to paint a picture of the individual — not just for clinical purposes. We can read demographics, socioeconomics, and behavior to improve things like scheduling, payment, and billing.

Again, look outside healthcare. Companies like Uber and Lyft are masters at understanding factors around scheduling. Their business models depend on it! Those same factors can be used to determine how patients pay their bills.

We just have to leverage the data and use analytics to understand that patient engagement doesn’t stop at the hospital door. Patients stay engaged long after discharge from a clinic or hospital.

3.What are the top two lessons healthcare can learn from other industries in terms of implementing AI?

Sam: First, AI is not a replacement for people. AI can make people more efficient and work alongside us, but it’s not a stand-in. Look at what’s happening on the clinical side. It’s not replacing people; it’s enabling them to focus on high-value items and letting AI handle low-value tasks.

The second is about strategy. AI can be a major player in reaching strategic goals. In the revenue cycle, for example, it can help expedite payments, improve efficiency, and predict and address payment strategies and cohorts. This means professionals at all levels can be more strategic and less reactive in how we deploy our efforts.

4.What can non-clinical corners of healthcare learn from the clinical side’s use of AI?

Sam: It’s time to execute. We see a lot of talk on the clinical side but not much doing. The non-clinical side has real opportunity to leverage experiences from other industries like banking and retail, and even individual businesses like Amazon in making the payment cycle the least painful possible.

5.How can non-clinical professionals contribute to a more holistic approach to patient care?

Sam: It all starts with knowledge and awareness.

One thing we haven’t done well in healthcare is to prepare our workforce through education and training. At  American University’s Healthcare Management Program, we focus on workforce development through an experiential lens. This means we graduate professionals who already know how to leverage data and infuse best practices — right out of the gate.

Non-clinical professionals need training around technology because developing that level of understanding as early as possible is key.

6.What do you think providers need to do to start taking steps in that direction? How can vendors help play an active role?

Sam: A big problem I see is that vendors are all saying the same thing. This makes it hard for providers to discern and make good partnership decisions because so many are out here with the same message.

Vendors should be asking, “How do we make our tool/tech/product the most user-friendly?” This is not just for the patient (in the case of patient-facing tech), but also for the provider. Vendors should work to make provider lives better too, especially since there’s so much tool fatigue from EMRs, add-on layers, etc. So many providers are sitting in a state of decision paralysis and vendors have to be ready to help them get out. They can start by really focusing on the ROI question and making sure what they do is a justified expenditure.

The biggest challenge though is communication. Differentiation is a real challenge right now. I was just at HIMSS19, and some of the technology is really brilliant! We’re just seeing a lack of creativity in how it’s positioned in the market.

Vendors need to think about how they align strategically and how to tell that story. In all this noise, how do you stand out? Just think of the HIMSS floor — it’s not about having the biggest booth. It’s about having the most relevant story that captures the attention of the organization and, ultimately, supports the patient.

About Sam Hanna

• Associate Dean, American University – Graduate & Professional Studies
• Program Director – Healthcare Management
• Executive In Residence

Prior to joining American University, Sam was a professor and Program Director of the Master’s Program in Management of Health Informatics & Analytics at The George Washington University where he created and directed the program to be a marquee program in the field.  

Before starting his academic career, he was the Chief Innovations Officer at Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP (PwC) and the Senior Director of the healthcare practice in the Mid Atlantic.

Sam is recognized nationally for his expertise in Project and Program Management, Business Intelligence and Analytics, Business Continuity, Complex Clinical & Financial Systems Implementations, HIPAA, ARRA/HITECH, Audit, Risks and Governance Consulting, and the Convergence of the business of healthcare with IT.

He has also held leadership opportunities at other organizations such as Deloitte and Dana Farber Cancer Institute.  He holds several certifications including Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Business Continuity Planner (CBCP), and Certified in Risk & Information Systems Controls (CRISC).