Stanford Medicine leaders spotlighted innovation in artificial intelligence and reimagining cancer research and care as two of the academic health system’s key strategic priorities at the annual State of Stanford Medicine event on Oct. 1.
Appearing together before an in-person and virtual audience were Lloyd Minor, MD, the dean of the Stanford School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs at Stanford University; David Entwistle, president and CEO of Stanford Health Care; and Paul King, president and CEO of Stanford Medicine Children’s Health. Together, they discussed their vision for the organization and what lies ahead — guided by a recently refreshed integrated strategic plan for Stanford Medicine through 2030.
Alpa Vyas, senior vice president and chief of patient experience and operational performance officer at Stanford Health Care, moderated the conversation.
Advancing enterprise strategic priorities
Stanford Medicine launched its first integrated strategic plan in 2018, aligning the long-term strategic priorities for the School of Medicine and the adult and pediatric health care delivery systems. Last year, the organization refreshed its plan to enable the academic health system to address emerging challenges and opportunities facing both the organization and biomedicine at large. Anchored by three strategic pillars — to be value focused, digitally driven, and uniquely Stanford — the plan outlines 19 strategic initiatives for advancing Stanford Medicine’s tripartite mission.
During the panel, the leaders discussed the collaborative process that informed the plan’s creation, including surveys and other vehicles for input. They emphasized that this wealth of community participation was essential to shaping the refreshed plan, and it positions Stanford Medicine for continued strength in research, education and patient care.
“The greatest value of strategic planning is the process,” Minor said. “It’s the process of bringing people together to discuss where we are today and where we aspire to be in the future — to identify the opportunities we have, to build upon our past successes and make sure that our future is even more successful.”
Leading AI innovations
Recognizing Stanford’s history as a pioneer in artificial intelligence, Stanford Medicine leaders aim to build on this legacy through responsible development and implementation of AI technologies in biomedical research, medical education and clinical care. Stanford Medicine has deployed more than 30 AI-powered applications to support clinicians in screening and diagnostics, monitoring patient conditions, predicting long-term outcomes, and informing decision-making.
In collaboration with technology companies, the health system also is pioneering the use of AI tools to support administrative work — such as creating first-draft responses to patient emails and drafting clinical notes through ambient listening technology. These tools have shown potential in reducing the clerical burden for clinicians, increasing their time with patients and improving their well-being.
As a founding partner of the Coalition for Health AI and through the RAISE Health initiative with the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, Stanford Medicine is leading the way in creating guidelines and guardrails to enhance the effectiveness of AI in health care and ensure that these powerful technologies are used for the benefit of all, Minor said.
“We have a real opportunity to enable or augment what we do with AI — that’s the part that I think is the most exciting,” Entwistle said. “How do we take this technology and build on the incredible clinical excellence that we already have? How do we get the right information in the right way in front of our clinicians at the right time? How do we use that technology to enable them to build on their excellence?”
Reimagining cancer research and care
With the number of cancer diagnoses worldwide increasing at a faster pace than most other diseases, Stanford Medicine is committed to continuing its leading role in addressing unmet needs through a bold vision to reimagine cancer innovation and care, the leaders said. Meeting this demand requires development of new cancer therapies, increased access to inpatient and outpatient care, specialized services leveraging advanced technologies, as well as clinical trials and cutting-edge treatment modalities.
Minor discussed Stanford Medicine’s vision to create a comprehensive, destination cancer center for adult and pediatric patients with a “bench-bedside-bench model” — bringing breakthroughs from labs to the patient care environment, then efficiently returning care insights back to scientists. Another priority is expanding access to Stanford Medicine’s world-class care, Entwistle said, citing the health system’s collaboration with Sutter Health to build an outpatient cancer center in Oakland.
“We cannot overstate the importance of cancer innovation and care at this moment in time,” King said. “Our vision is to build on Stanford Medicine’s rich legacy of groundbreaking discoveries, to translate them into the care we provide, and bringing insights from our clinics and our inpatient units back to our labs in that virtuous cycle.”
Hope for the future
Minor, Entwistle and King expressed optimism for the future, acknowledging the contributions of the Stanford Medicine community in shaping the health system’s success.
“We can’t thank you enough for all that you’ve done to get us to where we are today,” Minor said. “Our pledge and commitment to you is that the best is yet to come.”