Healthcare organizations are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, with much of the conversation focused on automation, efficiency, and productivity. But as AI becomes more deeply embedded in clinical and operational workflows, a different question is drawing attention: can these technologies actually help build stronger relationships between healthcare organizations and the people they serve, a question at the heart of the upcoming AI patient engagement human connection webinar.
What This AI Patient Engagement Human Connection Webinar Will Address
That question will be at the center of the next installment of Healthcare Innovation’s Digital Health Intelligence webinar series, “AI and Patient Engagement: Using Technology to Strengthen Human Connection.” Health systems are looking to AI to reduce administrative burden, improve access, and make care delivery more efficient, but saving time is only part of the equation; what organizations do with that time, and whether it ultimately creates a better experience for patients, may be just as important.
Building on the Series’ First Installment
The first Digital Health Intelligence webinar, on hospital-at-home stability, highlighted an issue increasingly relevant across healthcare innovation: technology alone doesn’t transform care, since success depends on how organizations integrate technology into their operations and, ultimately, into the patient experience. This next conversation extends that idea specifically into the realm of patient engagement.
Who Will Lead This AI Patient Engagement Human Connection Discussion
On Tuesday, September 29, at 11:00 a.m. ET, Melinda Taschetta-Millane will be joined by Maninder “Mini” Kahlon, PhD, founding director of the University of Texas at Austin’s LiveSmart initiative at Dell Medical School. Kahlon’s work focuses on improving health outcomes through community-based support, technology, and human connection.
Why Efficiency and Engagement Aren’t the Same Thing
AI has already demonstrated its ability to automate tasks, streamline workflows, and reduce administrative work, benefits that matter at a time when healthcare organizations face enormous financial and workforce pressure. But efficiency isn’t the same thing as engagement, and meaningful, lasting patient engagement remains difficult even as it has been a priority for years, given how patients navigate fragmented systems, complex care journeys, and an overwhelming amount of information.
Where AI Shows Promise Within This Patient Engagement Human Connection Framework
The webinar will explore where AI is already showing promise, including care navigation, chronic disease management, behavioral health, population health, virtual care, and patient outreach, while also addressing situations where AI may not be the right answer.
The Specific Questions This Session Will Examine
During the 30-minute conversation, the discussion will examine whether healthcare is focusing on the right applications of AI for patient engagement, why meaningful engagement remains so difficult, where AI can make a measurable difference in patient experience, and how organizations can use AI to create more opportunities for meaningful human interaction. The conversation will also address what health systems should do with capacity freed up by reduced administrative burden, and whether measures like trust, connection, and patient activation should play a larger role in evaluating AI success.
How This Fits the Broader Digital Health Intelligence Webinar Series
This webinar is the second installment of a series bringing together healthcare executives, clinicians, technology leaders, and industry experts to examine strategies and technologies reshaping healthcare, designed to look beyond headlines and focus on practical implementation, operational impact, financial sustainability, cybersecurity, and patient-centered care questions.
What’s Coming Next in This Series
Following this session, upcoming installments will address cyber resilience in healthcare on Oct. 27, AI in revenue cycle management on Nov. 17, and AI governance, ethics, and accountability on Dec. 16, giving the series a sustained, multi-month arc across several of healthcare AI’s most pressing operational questions.
What This AI Patient Engagement Human Connection Webinar Means Going Forward
For healthcare IT, clinical, and innovation leaders, this conversation is ultimately about a question that goes beyond technology: if AI gives organizations more time, capacity, and information, how should those resources be used to build better relationships with patients. Given the series’ stated focus on practical implementation over hype, attendees may come away with more concrete frameworks for evaluating AI’s engagement impact than headline-driven coverage typically provides.
What to Watch Going Forward
As the Sept. 29 webinar approaches, healthcare leaders interested in AI-driven patient engagement will likely watch for Kahlon’s specific perspective on measuring success through trust and patient activation rather than traditional efficiency metrics alone. Given the series’ broader trajectory toward cybersecurity, revenue cycle, and governance themes in subsequent months, this AI patient engagement human connection conversation may serve as an early framework-setting discussion that later installments build upon as the series continues examining AI’s practical role across different healthcare operational domains.
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