Dr. Brian Patterson, Physician Administrative Director for Clinical AI, UW Health

Summary

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Episode Summary: Dr. Brian Patterson, Physician Administrative Director for Clinical AI, UW Health

Podcast: Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Date: December 23, 2025
Host: Gracelyn Keller
Guest: Dr. Brian Patterson

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Overview

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Dr. Brian Patterson, an emergency physician and the administrative lead for Clinical AI at UW Health, exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming healthcare operations, clinical practice, and leadership strategies. The discussion centers on AI use cases, implementation challenges, the evolving regulatory landscape, and actionable insights for health IT leaders preparing for accelerated digital transformation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dr. Patterson’s Background and Transition to Clinical AI

• [00:47–01:18] Dr. Patterson introduces himself as a practicing emergency physician with nearly 13 years at UW Health.
  • He transitioned from emergency medicine research, focused on AI tool development, into administrative leadership, spearheading AI governance and rollout at UW Health.
  • “I started in the research space researching the development and implementation of AI tools, especially in the emergency department space. And that work kind of transitioned me over to the administrative side…” (Dr. Brian Patterson, 00:49)

2. Most Impactful AI Use Cases in Healthcare Today

• [01:38–02:50] Explosive AI adoption is seen across healthcare, but certain areas stand out:
  • Revenue Cycle:
    • AI is heavily utilized to streamline the billing and coding cycle, improving both efficiency and results.
  • Clinical Side – Ambient AI:
    • “Ambient” AI, which powers automated clinical documentation and note-taking, is viewed as the “killer app.” Patterson notes its influence on physician decisions about where to work.
    • “People are looking at which organizations are going to go to based on whether they have Ambient already.” (Dr. Brian Patterson, 01:55)
  • Emerging: Summarization & Knowledge Retrieval:
    • With growing patient charts, AI tools that quickly surface relevant clinical data are increasingly valuable but less buzzed-about—for now.
    • “…the ability of these AI tools to surface the information physicians need when they need them is going to continue to be seen as a huge advantage.” (Dr. Brian Patterson, 02:27)

3. Navigating AI Implementation: Governance, Change Management, and Balance

• [02:50–03:57] Introducing AI and digital platforms brings complex challenges:
  • Avoid “reinventing the wheel”—many principles of change management apply, even with revolutionary tech.
  • Integrate AI through existing governance structures rather than rebuilding systems wholesale.
  • “I think AI is revolutionary, but that doesn't mean you need to rebuild your entire hospital's governance in a lot of places.” (Dr. Brian Patterson, 03:33)

4. Regulation, Legislation, and Market Pressures

• [03:57–04:58] AI sits at a regulatory crossroads, with several pressures at play:
  • Less regulatory focus specifically on AI currently, contrasted with a sharper legislative focus on margin management.
  • “Wild West” dynamic emerging, as organizations feel freer to adopt new tools rapidly to chase efficiency and revenue.
  • Patterson cautions against reckless deployments that could provoke industry backlash or new restrictions.
  • “…just because these things aren't regulated as they might have been, there is still a lot of liability and a lot of room to deploy these in ways that we may regret later.” (Dr. Brian Patterson, 04:33)

5. Advice for Leaders Facing Tech Advancements and Rising Care Demands

• [05:08–05:44] Dr. Patterson’s central takeaway for healthcare executives:
  • Involve Clinicians Closely:
    • The most successful AI adoption comes when technology is developed and rolled out with clinical input—not as something imposed “from above.”
    • Engagement ensures smoother transitions and better patient outcomes.
    • “…if this change is coming and feeling like it’s from within the practice of medicine as opposed to being imposed on us, it’s going to be a much smoother transition and a much more successful way to actually help our patients 100%.” (Dr. Brian Patterson, 05:29)

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Notable Quotes

• “Ambient has become sort of the killer app that, you know, most physicians are talking about.” (Dr. Brian Patterson, 01:52)
• “There’s been this tendency to try to rebuild everything from scratch. … In a lot of ways the change management is the same and that a lot of our organizations are very good at rolling out new technologies.” (Dr. Brian Patterson, 03:16)
• “There is still a lot of liability and a lot of room to deploy these in ways that we may regret later.” (Dr. Brian Patterson, 04:33)
• “Continue to evolve clinicians in the process.” (Dr. Brian Patterson, 05:10)
• “If this change is coming … from within the practice of medicine as opposed to being imposed on us, it’s going to be a much smoother transition and a much more successful way to actually help our patients 100%.” (Dr. Brian Patterson, 05:29)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:47: Dr. Patterson’s background & entry into AI
• 01:38: Top AI use cases in healthcare today
• 02:50: Governance and balancing innovation with operations
• 03:57: Regulatory landscape & market effects
• 05:08: Advice for leaders on future-proofing care delivery

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Conclusion

Dr. Brian Patterson provides a pragmatic, clinician-informed perspective on how AI is rapidly shifting both the technical and cultural landscape of healthcare. His advice centers on leveraging existing organizational strengths, adopting thoughtful change management, and—most importantly—making clinicians collaborative partners in the governance and implementation of AI-powered tools. This episode serves as a roadmap for decision-makers aiming to innovate responsibly while staying grounded in patient care realities.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

This is Gracelyn Keller with the Beckers Healthcare Podcast and we are recording live at the 10th annual Health IT Digital Health and RCM meeting. I'm currently joined by Brian Patterson, who is the Physician Administrative Director for Clinical AI at UW Health. Brian, thanks for being here. Let's have you start off by sharing a little bit more about yourself and your work in healthcare.

[C]

Thanks. Happy to be here. I am a practicing emergency physician. I've been at UW Health for 12 years, going on 13 now. I started in the research space researching the development and implementation of AI tools, especially in the emergency department space. And that work kind of transitioned me over to the administrative side where I've been doing more and more work helping set up our clinical governance of AI tools and helping lead rollouts of clinically facing tools at UW Health.

[B]

Perfect. And so, yeah, let's start right there with AI, because nearly half of medical practices reported using AI in some capacity in the past year and it remains a key topic for health IT leaders. So from your perspective, what are the use cases that are making the biggest difference right now and how are you leveraging them in your organization?

[C]

So there are an exploding number of use cases of AI in healthcare. I think the area where we're seeing the most tools that have actually been deployed and are making change right now is probably in the revenue cycle space where we have a host of tools at various spots in the billing and coding cycle that are helping to make work more efficient, more effective. Certainly we're using these and seeing good results. On the clinical side, I think Ambient has become sort of the killer app that, you know, most physicians are talking about. People are looking at which organizations are going to go to based on whether they have Ambient already. We are actively rolling this out at UW Health and having really good results there. And then the sort of upcoming AI use case that I think is going to continue to get bigger is the idea of summarization and related clinical knowledge retrieval. As charts get bigger and bigger for patients, the ability of these AI tools to surface the information physicians need when they need them is going to continue to be seen as a huge advantage. I think right now these tools are still growing and you're not seeing as much buzz around them as around ambient. But I think that's going to shift as people start to get more and more use out of them.

[B]

As these tools develop and as virtual care expands from AI enabled tools and remote monitoring to broader digital health platforms, introducing new technology can bring challenges. So what advice do you have for leaders navigating everything from governance to patient engagement? And can you share an example of how your organization has balanced innovation with operational constraint?

[C]

Well, I think when we talk about AI, because the technology is so revolutionary, there's been this tendency to try to rebuild everything from scratch. And I think very often what I find myself saying to folks who are coming to me with AI tools is, well, how would you do this if it wasn't AI? I think we need to step back and recognize that in some ways AI is very different from everything else we've done before. But in a lot of ways the change management is the same and that a lot of our organizations are very good at rolling out new technologies and we can fall back on the knowledge that we already have and the structures that already exist. I think AI is revolutionary, but that doesn't mean you need to rebuild your entire hospital's governance in a lot of places. This is so big that it's being put in everywhere, and that means that we can still use our same systems of governance to move it forward.

[B]

And how are you seeing recent legislation, both state and federal, affect healthcare organizations and health IT specifically? And have you adjusted strategy in response?

[C]

So I think there's been in the AI space a couple trends. One is maybe less of a focus on regulation, and then also in the broader healthcare sense, I think there's been more of a focus on margins with legislative changes. So there is sort of this ability that makes it feel perhaps even more Wild west than it was before, where a lot of folks are turning things on just to try to get revenue where they can. I think it is important to realize that just because these things aren't regulated as they might have been, there is still a lot of liability and a lot of room to deploy these in ways that we may regret later. I think my big worry is that some healthcare systems start to put these things out in ways that may blow up in the industry's face, and then it makes it tough for all of us to move the AI technology forward.

[B]

And final question, as we wrap our conversation up, I'd love to know your top piece of advice for healthcare leaders as they prepare for further advancements in technology and rising demands for care.

[C]

I think my advice, being a clinician in AI is to continue to evolve clinicians in the process. I think when we look at these AI technologies, it's really easy to see these as things that are being housed in it, and it's coming into the clinical practice to disrupt it. But the other way to look at these are that these are clinical tools that can be developed with clinicians and rolled out with clinicians, with clinical informaticists. And if this change is coming and feeling like it's from within the practice of medicine as opposed to being imposed on us, it's going to be a much smoother transition and a much more successful way to actually help our patients 100%.

[B]

Well, Brian, thanks so much for joining me today on the Beckers Healthcare Podcast and sharing your thoughts and insights on these topics. Again, we are recording live at the 10th annual Health IT Digital Health and RCM meeting.

[C]

Thank you.