We’ve all heard the heroic words of Spider-Man: “With great power comes great responsibility.” » And these words ring especially true in the age of AI.
Artificial intelligence holds a lot of power within its capabilities. And as healthcare leaders and decision-makers, that means a Herculean responsibility falls on us.
In recent years, artificial intelligence has been touted as the great disruptor in healthcare – a technology poised to solve everything from clinical documentation problems to diagnostic accuracy.
However, while AI applications are extremely promising, a misconception is quietly spreading throughout our industry: that AI is the magic bullet that will “solve” all kinds of problems, including hospital safety.
Last year, we saw artificial intelligence disrupt the landscape of hospital operations and security. From virtual bedside nursing assistants to rapid brain scans in which AI diagnoses a stroke with high accuracy, much of the work that required time, commitment, constant attention and human labor is now done by machines.
It is extremely important to note, however, that while AI can be a transformative tool, it cannot replace the cultural, structural, and leadership foundations necessary for a security-first culture. Technology only amplifies what already exists – it doesn’t fix what’s broken.
To create meaningful, measurable improvements in patient safety, health systems must combine responsible AI adoption with strong governance, an environment where safety is a top priority with equal priority from physicians, and where leadership accountability connects executive decisions to patient outcomes.
Building good AI governance: people before platforms
If AI wants to improve safety rather than complicate it, hospitals must start with strict monitoring.
At Adventist HealthCare, this takes shape through an AI Steering Committee that evaluates new tools not on how new they are, but on how they impact patients and clinical workflows. At Adventist HealthCare, AI governance is very intentional to ensure alignment with the company’s mission, values and strategic goals while adhering to ethical, legal and regulatory standards.
A 20-person committee, comprised of representatives from our physician and nurse leadership, legal, finance, clergy, IT, IT, and DEI, oversees all AI choices to ensure each program is culturally responsive, avoids redundancies, and is properly managed with appropriate human oversight.
A well-structured AI governance committee:
Eliminate redundanciesensuring that departments do not implement overlapping technologies that could confuse clinicians, inflate costs, or create inconsistent processes.
Insists on transparency in how algorithms are designed, validated and monitored.
Guarantees clinical performanceensuring that the doctors and nurses who will use these tools will have a say in how and why they are selected.
Too often, AI enters hospitals or clinical practice areas in a fragmented and decentralized manner – driven by enthusiastic teams without system-wide coordination. Governance ensures that innovations support security rather than inadvertently compromising it.
The role of leadership in promoting a safety-focused medical culture
No AI tool can compensate for a culture that tolerates variability, under-reporting, or dangerous shortcuts when it comes to protocols and safety measures. Safety starts with leadership and must permeate every clinical team.
Leaders set the tone by:
- Promote open reportingmaking it clear that reporting errors or near misses is not only acceptable but expected.
- Invest in trainingensuring that doctors and other clinicians understand both the capabilities and limitations of AI so that they can use it judiciously and not blindly.
- Model humilityreinforcing the fact that technology supports but never replaces clinical judgment.
- Recognize and reward staff who proactively make safety their number one priorityevolving the culture of reactivity towards proactive risk prevention.
A safety-focused culture is not an aspiration; it is operational. This shows up in how doctors refer patients, how teams escalate concerns, and how consistently evidence-based practices are followed – especially when time pressures increase. AI can support these behaviors, but it cannot inculcate them.
At Adventist, we decided to focus on high quality and patient safety because it was best for patients. Including AI In this approach is the right thing to do as long as it adds to our existing culture and does not replace any part of the overall intentionality of the culture.
Leadership Responsibility: The Missing Link to Reliability
Artificial intelligence gives us untapped power, but we must recognize and take responsibility for it. Hospital safety improves when senior leaders are directly accountable for clear, measurable results.
Data-driven accountability – not quarterly slogans or abstract initiatives – drives lasting change. Leadership responsibility requires that we ensure that AI-integrated programs are safe, carefully integrated into our systems, and perform exactly as intended or better.
Linking leadership performance to safety looks like:
- Align executive incentives with specific security measuressuch as reducing avoidable damage, reporting events in a timely manner or complying with safety packages.
- Ensure transparency thanks to dashboards that track progress in real time.
- Closing the loop assigning responsibility for corrective action when safety trends deviate.
When leaders take ownership of results, improvements stop being optional. The entire organization understands that security is not a department, but a shared system-wide responsibility.
AI can help measure and monitor performance, but it’s individuals who must respond, evaluate and improve based on what the data reveals.
AI as an enabler, not an answer
The goal is not to resist AI but to integrate it thoughtfully. When used responsibly, AI can:
- Reducing variation in clinical decision making
- Predict risk before it becomes a danger
- Allow doctors to spend more time with patients rather than keyboards
- Strengthen early detection of deterioration
- Improve cross-team communication and documentation accuracy
But AI only succeeds when combined with disciplined governance, a strong medical culture, and leadership accountability.
The future of hospital security will not be determined by algorithms alone. It will be shaped by how we – as leaders, clinicians and stewards of our communities – choose to govern, guide and deliver on our commitment to safe care.
AI is a powerful tool. But that’s not the cure. The cure is us.
Dr. Patsy McNeil is executive vice president and chief medical officer of Adventist HealthCare.