Becker’s Healthcare Podcast — Episode Summary

Guest: Deepan Kamaraj, Director, Analytics & Informatics, UPMC Enterprises
Host: Gracelyn Keller
Date: October 20, 2025
Location: Recorded live at the 2025 Health IT Digital Health & RCM Conference

Episode Overview

This episode features Deepan Kamaraj discussing the role of analytics and informatics in healthcare innovation at UPMC Enterprises. The conversation centers around the current landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, adoption and governance challenges, real-world legislative impacts, and strategic advice for leaders facing technology’s rapid evolution.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. UPMC Enterprises: Innovation Through Analytics

[00:52]

• UPMC is a large health system based in Pittsburgh, comprising 40 hospitals and up to 1,000 clinics.
• UPMC Enterprises serves as the innovation and commercialization arm, responsible for both exporting internal innovations and bringing in promising external technologies.
• Deepan’s team evaluates opportunities from a data-driven, problem-centered perspective.

  "When a company comes to us and says, hey, this is a wonderful opportunity for you to either invest or partner, we go to the EMR and say, what is the problem here? How big of a problem are they solving for the system and how big is it we think it's anticipated in the market?" — Deepan Kamaraj [01:28]

2. The Current State & Approach to AI

[02:00 – 04:25]

• AI is not new to healthcare analytics at UPMC; the organization has engaged with AI for 10–20 years.
• The recent surge in generative AI is seen more as an advanced tool than a standalone solution.
• Emphasis on trust, clinical care improvement, and data governance.
• UPMC uses "closed container" environments to rapidly test AI tools on de-identified data before clinical deployment, improving safety and confidence.
• Evaluating ROI and tool performance post-piloting is integrated into the process.

  "Within UPMC, [we] view AI as more of a tool than a solution and we'd like to evaluate it as in totality. What is the solution offering to us?" — Deepan Kamaraj [02:37] "We have design[ed] closed container systems where we can isolate data...and test these tools before we put them in front of our end users." — Deepan Kamaraj [03:35]

3. Operationalizing Innovation: Governance & ROI

[04:25 – 05:51]

• UPMC is harmonizing IT, supply chain, and other infrastructures into a single, streamlined innovation vetting process.
• AHAVI, a novel data platform, provides a secure testing ground for innovative solutions, accelerating evaluation from several months to a few weeks.

  "We've also stood up a data platform called AHAVI...for novel companies that's approaching us and saying, hey, we have a tool that we would like to test with UPMC data." — Deepan Kamaraj [05:13] "We can replicate these systems and evaluate them at scale in a really quick pace...in a matter of weeks to probably a couple of months." — Deepan Kamaraj [05:23]

4. Adapting to Legislation: U.S. and International Trends

[05:51 – 07:23]

• UPMC monitors both global and local health policies, noting that U.S. AI regulations and guardrails are still forming.
• Active adoption of European policies for model evaluation and data quality.
• Cites the FDA’s Real World Evidence program as indicative of the direction of regulation — anticipating higher standards for data provenance and evidence in AI.

  "We have started adopting from European policies as well as local policies like char, which are particularly in the context of AI." — Deepan Kamaraj [06:25] "One example is FDA's real world evidence program...what kind of data provenance are you bringing into play so your evaluation methodology can be replicable?" — Deepan Kamaraj [06:46]

5. Strategic Guidance for Healthcare Leaders

[07:23 – 08:11]

• Deepan’s core advice highlights the need to integrate data governance, model transparency, and change management for clinicians and patients alike.
• Successful implementations require transparent narratives to promote trust and adoption.

  "What's worked well for us is tying data governance to transparency of what model performance is to change management. Meaning how do you get clinicians and providers comfortable as part of workflows, along with getting these in front of patients?" — Deepan Kamaraj [07:33] "Bringing all those together in one stream of work is the challenge, but it's also been the fun part of really making progress on from pilot to meaningful work." — Deepan Kamaraj [07:44]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AI in Healthcare:

  "AI is not new to us. We've been playing within the space for about 10, 20 years now...the generative AI hype has brought on what we can do with the tool." — Deepan Kamaraj [02:23]

• On Testing and Safety:

  "We have design[ed] closed container systems where we can isolate data, large volumes of de-identified data, and test these tools before we put them in front of our end users." — Deepan Kamaraj [03:33]

• On Innovation Process:

  "We've also stood up a data platform called AHAVI within UPMC Enterprises, particularly for novel companies that's approaching us...so we've approached it from can we produce a closed container environment where we can replicate these systems and evaluate them at scale." — Deepan Kamaraj [05:13]

• On Legislative Preparedness:

  "It's really dependent on individual systems to figure out what the roadmap is and what are we comfortable with in terms of playing there." — Deepan Kamaraj [06:17]

• On Transformation Advice:

  "That would be our suggestion — to look to tie those things together in telling a very cohesive narrative." — Deepan Kamaraj [07:55]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• UPMC Enterprises context & role — [00:52]
• AI in healthcare, approach and challenges — [02:21]
• Testing AI tools securely & at scale — [03:35]
• Balancing innovation & operations (AHAVI platform) — [04:44]
• Legislative trends and compliance — [06:05]
• Advice for leaders & the future — [07:32]

Concluding Thoughts

Deepan Kamaraj’s perspective aligns innovation with pragmatism: test fast, govern tightly, and build trust with both clinicians and patients. With AI poised to transform healthcare, UPMC Enterprises demonstrates that sustainable progress comes from strategic rigor and a commitment to transparency. This episode is a practical guide for industry leaders navigating the intersection of technology, regulation, and patient care.