RISE West 2025 featured an amazing opening keynote presentation by Dr. Archelle Georgiou on how to navigate change with purpose. Here are her thoughts on some of health care's biggest issues.
On navigating change
I'm thinking that it might be easier to navigate change in the casinos rather than in health care. In fact, I wouldn't even call it change ...I would call it a bit of chaos.
On public health and transparency
Every single company should have a public health strategy that they should report to its board of directors. Just like you have your risk management strategy. Just like you have a business strategy, you should have a public health strategy that is overseen by the highest level in your organizations.
I hope that you make decisions around your policies and your benefits that are science- based policies instead of what I hear could be happening, which is policy-based science, not the right direction to go in.
And when you do make decisions, be clear and transparent about the "why" behind the decisions that you're making, and make sure that you solicit input from the people whose lives you're affecting.
On artificial intelligence
It’s a bit like the Wild, Wild West.
t’s wonderful to have this technology, but are we going to use it properly? Is it going to hallucinate? And are we going to realize when it's hallucinating?
AI is advancing so fast, much faster than regulations can keep up with it and put some guardrails around it. At the same time, organizations are feeling like they have to invest in AI because they're going to be left behind.
Health care workers are worried about whether or not AI is going to replace them at their jobs. (I believe) that AI won't replace health care workers, but health care workers who don't use AI will be replaced.
So, the pivot to think about is not to be afraid of the future ... but to engage with the future and with that innovation.
I'm sure that every single organization represented in the room is thinking about and doing something with AI. But I hope that you think about it in a structured way and structure starts with governance. Do you have guardrails around how you are going to use AI in your organization? And then do you have a strategy around it, a strategy that’s ethical and that is aligned with your mission? And if your strategy was published on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, would you be proud of it? If not, then that shouldn't be how you're using AI.