- Parminder Bhatia was appointed in March 2023 as GE HealthCare's first chief AI officer.
- Bhatia said AI could help the company provide better clinical support by optimizing healthcare data.
- This article is part of "CXO AI Playbook" — straight talk from business leaders on how they're testing and using AI.
Artificial intelligence will have an appreciable impact on the healthcare industry, Parminder Bhatia, the chief AI officer of GE HealthCare, says. Specifically, he told Business Insider, there's a "huge opportunity" for AI to assist in clinical support and decision-making.
In 2023, GE HealthCare appointed Bhatia as its first chief AI officer to spearhead its AI strategy and integration. Bhatia joined the company with experience from his previous role at Amazon, where he led the development of several generative-AI products.
Bhatia's job at GE HealthCare, he said, is to understand AI's capabilities and limitations to accelerate its application.
The following has been edited for clarity and length.
The role of chief AI officer is new for GE HealthCare, and you're the first to have this title. How did this position come about?
It began when GE HealthCare spun off from the larger GE conglomerate in January 2023.
At that same time, GE HealthCare formed a science and technology organization to drive innovation through research and development.
The company hired Dr. Taha Kass-Hout to lead it, who became CTO, and he created the role of chief AI officer. I joined in March 2023 as CAIO.
Just to give some context, about one-third of all the world's data comes from healthcare. Yet only 3% of that data is actively used. There's a huge opportunity in how AI can better use that data for clinical support and decision-making.
What brought you to this role, and what's your background in AI?
Before joining GE HealthCare, I was at Amazon, where I led the development of generative-AI products like Amazon CodeWhisperer. I also worked on AI healthcare solutions such as Amazon Comprehend Medical, which helps understand unstructured clinical notes.
It was a great experience at Amazon, but I felt I was a step away from the customer. At GE HealthCare, I'm closer to the patient experience. GE HealthCare technologies are embedded directly into devices like MRI and CT machines, directly impacting over a billion patients every year.
How does your role interface with the rest of the company?
I work on streamlining operations across different businesses. We have divisions like ultrasound, CT, and MR imaging, each with their own needs. I accelerate their AI adoption by building platforms that help them move faster.
I also work with external partners. They bring key complementary skills and technologies. For instance, our collaboration with AWS focuses on security and compliant cloud solutions, which are essential for handling sensitive healthcare data. Our partnership with Nvidia aids in scaling our AI technologies.
And finally, I work with institutions like Mass General Brigham and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which help us research and evaluate new solutions.
Can you share some examples of how AI is being integrated into GE HealthCare's products?
One example is GE HealthCare's Air Recon DL. It's an AI-powered imaging solution that reduces MRI scan times by up to 50% while maintaining the same image quality. This is beneficial for patients who have difficulty staying still for long periods, like those with dementia. We've also developed medical-imaging foundation models to accelerate the development of AI capabilities.
With Mass General Brigham, we investigated missed care opportunities. That's when a patient skips or misses an appointment. With them, we built a model that can predict this with up to 96% accuracy.
Do you have an engineering team that reports directly to you, or do you provide a strategy for existing teams?
It's a hybrid approach. GE HealthCare has a strong skill set across its businesses and often when building platforms, we are working with the company's other businesses.
We also have science and engineering teams as part of my group. We can build capabilities from the ground up.
How are you thinking about the future of AI at GE HealthCare over the next three to five years?
I think it's important to understand what AI can and can't do.
We've established an AI Innovation Lab to evaluate cutting-edge technologies. We are asking, "How can we put solutions out to our customers to get their input?" AI technologies have great potential, but we're still early, and we need that feedback.
I also think that long term, this role is about how we align and understand our overall AI strategy. Everyone is asking about AI, from internal teams to company boards. We need to understand how we're making progress in the space to know that we're investing in the right direction.