Hospitals across Illinois are increasingly adopting AI tools. At OSF HealthCare, an AI platform quickly and accurately diagnoses diabetic retinopathy, another helps detect sepsis risk, and still another identifies patients likely to benefit from end-of-life care discussions.<\/p>\n
But because AI is still a new technology, most doctors are deploying it \u201cvery carefully and very thoughtfully,\u201d said Karen Harris, senior vice president and general counsel for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still have to remember this is a tool and the humans still need to do a review, at least at this stage,\u201d Harris said. \u201cTwenty years from now, 30 years from now, AI may develop into a different thing. But at this stage, it\u2019s a tool.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s certainly possible AI \u201cmay never be the right tool for all situations,\u201d Harris said. But it\u2019s working well in reducing \u201cadministrative burden,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Dr. Nirav Shah, associate chief medical informatics Officer, AI and innovation and director of investigational innovation at Endeavor Health, said Endeavor Health currently has 80-plus active AI tools in its inventory with another \u201c30 to 40 in our pipeline.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Dr. Nirav Shah is the associate chief medical informatics Officer, AI and innovation, and director of investigational innovation at Endeavor Health. (Photo provided by Endeavor Health)<\/p>\n
Because \u201chealthcare is extremely regulated,\u201d providers often spend more time on processes than caring for patients, Shah said.<\/p>\n
And with the current national shortage of healthcare providers, that situation \u201cis going to get worse,\u201d decreasing both access and safety, Shah said.<\/p>\n
Providers typically spend 2\/3 of their time on administrative tasks and 1\/3 with patients, he said. <\/p>\n
AI can reduce time spent on marketing, supply chain, emails, research and documentation of patient visits, allowing doctors to focus more on patients than note-taking, Shah said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re able to make our team members more productive, we\u2019ll be better able to take care of patients and the population at large in our communities,\u201d Shah said.<\/p>\n
However, \u201cevery provider absolutely needs to check the notes and really look for things that are inaccurate and modify them or delete them,\u201d said Dr. Kanan Modhwadia, a psychiatrist and medical director of behavioral health and psychiatric emergency room services at Northwestern Medicine<\/a> Central DuPage Hospital.<\/p>\n Dr. Kanan Modhwadia, is a psychiatrist and medical director of behavioral health and psychiatric emergency room services at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital. (Photo provided by Northwestern Medicine\u00a0)<\/p>\n Modhwadia said AI in psychiatry is in very early stages.<\/p>\n \u201cPsychiatry is really driven by human connections and the relationship part, which AI can\u2019t do. So that is a bit of a gap,\u201d Modhwadia said. \u201cBut there are a lot of therapy platforms coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n Silver Cross also recently started using AI in its electrophysiology lab to help improve treatments for patients with abnormal heart rhythms, including atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia.<\/p>\n In 2026, Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox started using CartoSound Sonata, an AI-powered tool that helps improve treatments for patients with abnormal heart rhythms, including atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia. Pictured (from left) are two representatives from CartoSound, Dr. Michael Porter, a cardiologist at Silver Cross; Kayley O’Toole, registered technologist, radiography, another CartoSound representative; Mia Perkins, registered technologist, radiography. (Photo provided by Silver Cross Hospital)<\/p>\n In 30 to 60 seconds, AI transforms ultrasound images into highly detailed 3D cardiac maps, leading to shorter procedure times, increased precision, and less exposure to radiation. <\/p>\n Dr. R. Kannan Mutharasan, cardiologist and medical director of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital, and medical director of Health Network Development at Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, feels AI can transform patient care.<\/p>\n AI-powered stethoscopes can classify heart murmurs; AI-powered ECGs and echocardiograms can improve diagnostics, Mutharasan said.<\/p>\n Future AI may predict the risk of atrial fibrillation or a weak heart, Mutharasan said.<\/p>\n AI programs for clinicians, grounded in all the latest medical literature, can help providers give accurate, timely care because \u201cit\u2019s read every single thing humans ever read and seen every single case,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Dr. R. Kannan Mutharasan is a cardiologist and medical director of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital and medical director of Health Network Development at Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute. (Photo provided by Northwestern Medicine)<\/p>\n \u201cAs an experienced physician with well over two decades in cardiology care, I have not seen everything out there,\u201d Mutharasan said. \u201cAI has seen everything.\u201d<\/p>\n St. Mary\u2019s Hospital in Kankakee<\/a> and Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet<\/a> use an AI-powered device in the emergency department and the intensive care unit for rapid seizure detection – especially non-convulsive seizures \u2013 and continuous monitoring.<\/p>\n \u201cOver 90% of seizures are subclinical, with no outward signs,\u201d said Kristen Boswell, neuro-diagnostics supervisor at St. Mary\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n Kristen Boswell is the neuro-diagnostics supervisor at St. Mary\u2019s Hospital in Kankakee. (Photo provided by Prime Healthcare)<\/p>\n Boswell said the device allows staff to quickly make critical decisions on whether to treat the patient at the hospital or transfer to a hospital with neurointensive care.<\/p>\n And when dealing with the brain, \u201cit\u2019s just so critical to be able to do that,\u201d Boswell said.<\/p>\n St. Mary\u2019s in Kankakee was the first hospital in Illinois to use the device in children, too, Boswell said.<\/p>\n Dr. Rameez Alasadi, an interventional gastroenterologist with Silver Cross Medical Group, likened AI-enhanced colonoscopies to \u201ca second set of eyes\u201d that helps detect polyps.<\/p>\n Dr. Rameez Alasadi is an interventional gastroenterologist with Silver Cross Medical Group. (Photo provided by Silver Cross Hospital)<\/p>\n Alasadi said the point of screening colonoscopies is to find and remove polyps before they turn into cancer. <\/p>\n \u201cThe higher the detection rate, the lower the risk of cancer,\u201d Alasadi said.<\/p>\n Someday, AI might also highlight suspicious areas anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract for precise biopsying, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we\u2019re not there yet,\u201d Alasadi said.<\/p>\n How AI should never be used in healthcare<\/p>\n Overrelying on AI or using it complacently is \u201cwhere mistakes happen,\u201d Modhwadia said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should be thinking about what we\u2019re doing and be very proactive,\u201d Modhwadia said. \u201cBecause we\u2019re ultimately dealing with people. It sounds very simple, but humans care for other people. AI responds. But it doesn\u2019t reciprocate.\u201d<\/p>\n Ironically, AI may restore the \u201csacred interaction\u201d between patient and provider, Mutharasan said.<\/p>\n \u201cOur vision for artificial intelligence is something that allows technology to completely fade away and elevate the human connection that is inherent in the care of the patient,\u201d Mutharasan said. \u201cI think that is an exciting possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Artificial intelligence can already detect strokes, identify patients at risk of sepsis, help doctors document appointments and even…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,45489,45487,45493,45488,1657,1668,45481,120,45483,45496,45485,45484,45486,45490,45482,45495,24264,45494,45491,45492],"class_list":["post-84210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-bureau-county","tag-dekalb-county","tag-dupage-county","tag-grundy-county","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-health-care-team","tag-illinois","tag-kane-county","tag-kankakee","tag-kankakee-county","tag-kendall-county","tag-la-salle-county","tag-lee-county","tag-mchenry-county","tag-new-lenox","tag-osf-healthcare","tag-silver-cross-hospital","tag-whiteside-county","tag-will-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.shawlocal.com\/resizer\/wSeZ42MZ-TmQOcQbVL5S9EM4BfQ=\/1440x0\/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)\/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com\/shawmedia\/Z6UJZIZEMFHHPISSW4NQAE2CME.jpeg\")
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