Dr. Steve Davis, President and CEO of Cincinnati Children's

Summary

Becker’s Healthcare Podcast: Dr. Steve Davis, President and CEO of Cincinnati Children's

Air Date: August 21, 2025
Host: Laura Dardo
Guest: Dr. Steve Davis

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Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Dr. Steve Davis, President and CEO of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Dr. Davis discusses the hospital’s recent successes, their philosophy on continuous improvement, pressing challenges in pediatric healthcare, the promise and complexities of artificial intelligence (AI), and Cincinnati Children’s expanding global impact. He offers insightful perspectives on leadership and adaptation in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction and Recent Successes

• Dr. Davis’s Background: Pediatric critical care doctor with two decades at Cleveland Clinic, followed by 10 years at Cincinnati Children’s (last 4 as CEO).
• Cincinnati Children’s Growth:
  • "We are a remarkable organization that truly focuses on getting better every day." (B, 00:44)
  • Expansion beyond the Tri-state region—nationally and internationally.
  • Major partnership: Long-term contract with Saha and Pure Health in the United Arab Emirates to help build a world-class children's hospital.
  • Operational Win: Improved patient access; 110,000 patients received appointments a week earlier than before.
    • "When parents want their children seen, time is critical." (B, 01:45)

The “Best at Getting Better” Philosophy

• Cincinnati Children’s adopts a humble, learning-oriented approach.
  • “We never say we're the best. We do say we're the best at getting better.” (B, 02:57)
• Over 1,000 staff members trained in improvement science, fostering a relentless pursuit of quality.
• Highlighted collaboration: Providers, nursing leadership, and operational leaders working together to improve access.
• Focus on zero error rate:
  • "If we have a 1% error rate... that's 60 kids [daily] that had something happen that wasn't perfect. So we never focus on we're good enough. We always focus on what can we do to be even better until our error rate is zero." (B, 03:48)

Top Challenges and Priorities in Pediatric Healthcare

Pediatric Subspecialty Shortages

• Acute shortage of pediatric pathologists, rheumatologists, dermatologists, and infectious disease specialists nationwide.
  • Cincinnati Children’s remains well-staffed, but recognizes the national crisis.
  • “If places like ours are starting to struggle to find great subspecialists, can only imagine what it's like in some other areas.” (B, 05:14)
  • Efforts to leverage institutional assets for broader pediatric care delivery.

Artificial Intelligence (AI): Promise and Pitfalls

• AI is both a “blessing and a challenge.”
  • Addresses provider shortages and enables effective scaling of pediatric care.
• Institution-wide initiative: Mandatory “AI 101” training for all employees.
  • "We actually required every one of our employees to take what we called AI101... we knew it was going to become like the handheld calculator from my generation." (B, 06:42)
• Two main issues:
  1. Most large language models aren’t tailored for pediatric use; thus, Cincinnati Children’s is building custom models.
  2. Paying for AI infrastructure and technology while managing broader pressures to reduce healthcare costs.
• AI Hype vs. Reality:
  • Cites an analogy to Uber: initial promise of cheaper service, followed by significant price rises.
  • "The article talked about the same hype cycle for AI in healthcare, that it could lower the cost of care. But now there's enormous pressure for some of these companies to start making a profit, and prices may well go up." (B, 07:55)

Opportunities for Growth

Networks & Partnerships

• Pediatric Congenital Heart Surgery Network:
  • Launched to support and elevate smaller programs; now includes five partner organizations.
  • Use of virtual reality for collaborative surgical planning.
  • “We believe that that network... will allow more kids to get great cardiac care.” (B, 10:17)
• Digital Pathology:
  • Insufficient pediatric pathologists led to a digital pathology network, utilizing AI to extend expertise.
• International Expansion:
  • Strong partnerships in the UAE; unique global opportunity due to location—over a billion people within a 3-hour flight.
  • "The ability to impact kids globally with a presence in the UAE is really something that we hope to expand." (B, 11:44)
  • Commitment to global pediatric health, as seen historically with contributions like the polio vaccine and surfactant development.

Global Collaboration & Learning

• Importance of cultural fit and shared mission in global partnerships.
• Philosophy of “all teach, all learn”:
  • “Our approach has always been... all teach, all learn, because we know that every time we interact... there are things that we could learn as well.” (B, 13:56)
• Deep respect for UAE’s rapid growth and AI capabilities.
  • "Their use of artificial intelligence is probably second to no one in the world. They actually have a university... solely focused on the use of artificial intelligence." (B, 14:35)

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Leadership and Adapting to Change

Navigating Rapid Transformation

• The main difference today is the pace of change, not the nature of the challenges.
  • “What is different about this current era is the speed at which things change.” (B, 15:56)
• Cites explosive adoption of AI tools—over 50% of staff using them within six months of introduction.
• Old change management models (project-based, with clear start/finish) are being replaced by ongoing, adaptive approaches.
  • “The challenge with thinking about change leadership as project based is that that assumes there's a beginning and an end to that change. And I think that that's no longer the case.” (B, 17:25)
• Priorities for leadership:
  • Building adaptive capacity and resilience at all organization levels.
  • Continuous upskilling: “...if you're not willing and able to learn how to use AI tools... you might be replaced by somebody who does.” (B, 18:56)
  • Maintaining a sense of optimism and fostering a learning organization to manage the stress of constant change.

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Memorable Quotes

• "We never say we're the best. We do say we're the best at getting better." (B, 02:57)
• "Delayed care is bad care." (B, 03:28)
• "If we have a 1% error rate... that's 60 kids [daily] that had something happen that wasn't perfect." (B, 03:48)
• “AI in many ways allows us to [leverage assets], but we've got to think really carefully about how we utilize artificial intelligence.” (B, 06:26)
• "We trained all of our employees, and we know we have to continue training them." (B, 06:54)
• "Building resilience across an organization and now more than ever, building the learning organization is critical to success." (B, 19:04)

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Notable Timestamps

• 00:35 – Dr. Davis overview and Cincinnati Children’s international expansion
• 02:57 – 'Best at getting better' and continuous improvement culture
• 04:57 – Pediatric subspecialist shortages
• 06:22 – AI as challenge and opportunity; AI 101 initiative
• 09:29 – Growth via partnerships in heart surgery, digital pathology, and global expansion
• 13:30 – Learning through the UAE partnership and international collaboration
• 15:53 – Leadership, speed of change, and building adaptive capacity
• 18:56 – Need for ongoing workforce upskilling and embracing new technology

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Conclusion

Dr. Davis’s insights reveal an organization deeply committed to continual learning, constant improvement, and collaborative leadership. Cincinnati Children’s is navigating workforce challenges, embracing technology like AI while recognizing its costs and limitations, and expanding its impact globally through innovative partnerships—always with the mission of improving children’s health at the forefront. The episode is notable for its honest reflection on what true excellence requires: humility, adaptability, and a relentless drive to get better every single day.

Transcript

[A]

This is Laura Dardo with the Beckers Healthcare podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by Dr. Steve Davis, President and CEO of Cincinnati Children's. Dr. Davis, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.

[B]

Well, thank you for having me. I always enjoy my discussions with the Beckers team.

[A]

Absolutely. And we enjoy having you because I know there's so much happening in healthcare and particularly in children's healthcare right now. It's just a fascinating time of transformation as well as, you know, really looking at what matters most. So. So with that in mind, could you tell us a little bit more about yourself as well as Cincinnati Children's and what your biggest success or win has been from the last year?

[B]

I'd be happy to. The only challenge is limiting it to a couple of successes. We've had a strong couple of years. Again, I am the president and CEO. I'm a pediatric critical care doctor. I practiced for many years. I was at the Cleveland Clinic for 20 years. I've been at Cincinnati Children's the last 10 and the last four. As the CEO, I truly believe Cincinnati Children's is one of, if not the best hospital in the world. We are a remarkable organization that truly focuses on getting better every day. We are a very large children's hospital that sees children both in the Tri state area, nationally and we now have an ever expanding international presence. When I think about our successes, I would put them in a couple of different categories and one is our expansion internationally and we, we do deliver care in multiple locations now. We signed a long term contract with Saha and Pure Health in the United Arab Emirates and we're at expanding our ability to deliver care there and to help the people of the United Arab Emirates build a world class children's hospital for themselves on a more operational level. What I'm most proud of is that we've improved our access in the past year. So much so that 110,000 patients got their ambulatory appointment a week earlier than than they would have. And that's really important for patients. As you know, when parents want their children seen, time is critical. So really proud of the work we did there as well.

[A]

That's amazing to hear. And you know, that's a huge accomplishment bringing access to care to so many more patients. And so I'm curious, you know, when you think about all of these things that you're doing well and it's gone well, what really makes Cincinnati Children's great? Why have you been able to accomplish the things you've been able to Accomplish, accomplished. Even during times of big challenges.

[B]

You know, we've always focused on being a learning organization. And we have made it really clear to everybody in the organization that we never say we're the best. We do say we're the best at getting better. And we have well over a thousand people trained in improvement science, and they bring that to bear every day on how do we get better today than we were yesterday. And that leads to improvements in a variety of areas. And when I look at the improved access, for example, that was really a collaboration between the providers, the nursing leadership, and our operational leaders. That triad of physician, nurse, operational leader, and the operational excellence that we focus on really improve things for all of our patients. And one of the things I've said for many years that really resonates with our people is that delayed care is bad care. And so that has allowed us to get better. And we try to stay humble because we know that we don't get things right for every patient every time. For example, we have over 6,000 kids who come see us every day. If we have a 1% error rate, which is pretty good, that would mean 60 kids had something happen that wasn't perfect. So we never focus on we're good enough. We always focus on what can we do to be even better until our error rate is zero. And we know that that is often seen as unattainable, but it gives us the drive to know that we have to be better tomorrow than we are today.

[A]

I love that. Thank you so much for digging a little bit deeper there and talking through that philosophy. The best at getting better. I love it. So I wanted to ask as well, with you on the line, what are the top two to three issues that you're focused on right now and what's top of mind for you?

[B]

You know, a pediatric specific issue for us is, or for the country is that there are real shortages of pediatric subspecialists in many areas of the country. You may find that there aren't any pediatric pathologists or rheumatologists, infectious disease doctors, or dermatologists. And while we are probably the largest, if not one of the largest, training centers, and we are quite well staffed in all of the pediatric specialties. We know that that's not the case around the country. And if places like ours are starting to struggle to find great subspecialists, can only imagine what it's like in some other areas. And so we really are looking to figure out how can we expand on what we've done here and leverage the assets we have to help provide pediatric care to more children. And I think that that leads me into that next area, and it's the use of artificial intelligence. It's both a blessing and a real challenge. It's come at a really key time. As I've mentioned, everyone is struggling with having enough providers, and with the aging baby boomers, we know they're going to consume more and more of the healthcare resources. So we've got to figure out how to leverage our assets and see more children and more effectively. So artificial intelligence in many ways allows us to do that, but we've got to think really carefully about how do we utilize artificial intelligence. A couple of years ago, we actually required every one of our employees to take what we called AI101, which is just safe, smart use of artificial intelligence. And initially, people were curious as to why we would require every employee to do it. We knew it was going to become like the handheld calculator from my generation, where teachers would say, you shouldn't use a calculator to. Pretty much now everybody uses one. And so we trained all of our employees, and we know we have to continue training them. There are two key issues for us as an organization. One that's pediatric specific, and that is many of the large language models and some of the newer tools that have been developed do not focus on children, and they're not necessarily developed to work effectively for children. And so we're in many instances building our own tools. And the other is that how do we pay for them? As you know, there's tremendous pressure across the US to lower the cost of care, to bend that cost curve, so to speak.

[A]

And.

[B]

And while AI holds great promise, there was an article in the Business Courier this morning that talked about AI potentially having its Uber moment. And what the author was talking about was when Uber first came out, everybody was excited. Use expanded tremendously. And there was a belief that Uber might become so cheap that people wouldn't need to have their own cars. Well, in the next five years after Uber came out, prices went up 92%. And the article talked about the same hype cycle for AI in healthcare, that it could lower the cost of care. But now there's enormous pressure for some of these companies to start making a profit, and prices may well go up. If that's the case, we've got to figure out how do we control our expenses in such a way that we can continue to invest in the most important technology without adding to the cost of healthcare.

[A]

That's fascinating to hear, you know, and truly It'll be interesting to watch how, as you mentioned, the AI can really make a difference in healthcare. Figuring out what is going to be possible and then the areas where it's still, you know, there are really big challenges that it can't necessarily solve as you're trying to move forward in a meaningful way. And I wanted to ask you too, when you think about the very real challenges ahead, where do you see opportunities for growth as well?

[B]

Well, there are almost endless opportunities for growth for an organization like ours. And I'll give you a couple of examples. We started a pediatric congenital heart surgery network a few years ago because we knew that there were smaller programs out there that might not be able to thrive in the current environment and that they would be better positioned to deliver great care to kids if they were able to partner effectively with an organization like ours. We've developed some tools, both approaches to consultation and working with others, using virtual reality tools to do surgical planning with people at other hospitals in such a way that wasn't possible a few years ago to a variety of other approaches. And we now have five other organizations that are part of our heart network. And we believe that the future for that group is really positive. We know that we've already improved the quality of surgical care at some of our partner organizations. And we believe that that network of bringing large groups of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons who can work together effectively despite being at different locations will allow more kids to get great cardiac care. So that's one growth opportunity. I think there are many similar ones. We've started an approach to digital pathology because we know that there aren't enough pediatric pathologists around the country. And we are actively bringing on members to provide digital pathology. It's one of the fields that lends itself really well to use of artificial intelligence similar to what has been seen in radiology services. I mentioned that we signed a long term contract in the uae. I think the ability to help spread great pediatric care across the world is something that we can have a major impact in the next few years. When we look at the uae, they're phenomenal partners at Pure Health and Saha and we have a really strong relationship with them. And when we were looking to work with them, we realized there are over a billion people within a three hour flight to the United Arab Emirates. And so the ability to impact kids globally with a presence in the UAE is really something that we hope to expand. And again, the digital tools that are available make it easier to have an impact globally. And we've always been an organization that's wanted to impact the health of kids around the world. From things like the polio virus vaccine and the development of the rotavirus vaccine to the development of surfactant. We've always wanted to impact the health of children everywhere in the world. And I think the coming years are going to allow us to expand our impact in ways that were beyond our imagination even just a few years ago.

[A]

That's amazing to hear and really incredible to understand how healthcare is becoming so global and how technology can really make a big difference in serving multiple communities across the world. So that's impressive to hear and really neat to get a little bit further of a glimpse into that partnership that you have. I can imagine it's been a really different experience to connect with folks over in the UAE and try to work on healthcare in a completely different country.

[B]

It has been an incredible learning opportunity for us. And one of the reasons that I think we partner so effectively with other organizations a couple of things. One is we look for cultural fit of the organizations and that emphasis on improving the lives of children is one that it's not hard to find partners who are willing to work with us on those kinds of things. And then our approach has always been similar to what we do in the Solutions for Patient Safety network that was really founded in Ohio with the children's hospitals in Ohio and Cincinnati Children's being the. The dominant force in that founding is we approach things as an all teach, all learn, because we know that every time we interact with other providers, other organizations, other countries, that there are things that we could learn as well. And that willingness to learn from others makes it easier for organizations to want to partner with us. And it makes us stronger because we learn a lot. And I'll tell you that our friends in the United Arab Emirates are growing at rates that I couldn't have imagined a few years ago. And their use of artificial intelligence is probably second to no one in the world. They actually have a university that was founded five or six years ago that is solely focused on the use of artificial intelligence. And I believe it's the first in the world. So we are learning from them just as they are learning from us. And that's the way any good partnership works.

[A]

I love it. That's so cool and just really interesting to kind of get your perspective on how that came together and then what truly is possible when you go in with an open mind and are ready to learn. And you know, along those lines, when you think about healthcare over the next five years of Course it's, you know, anything really could happen, but what will it take for leaders to make sure they're building a thriving organization over that time? What's important in leadership, especially given the technology that has been coming out, as well as some of the other, you know, just uncertainties about what the future may bring.

[B]

You know, a lot of people are focusing on the, the challenges as being different than what we've seen in the past. And I'm not sure they're that much different. I think what is different about this current era is the speed at which things change. And I think that that's something we all have to understand and build capacity to adapt to that pace of change. And I'll use AI as an example. Back in November of 23, shortly after ChatGPT became publicly available, I brought the topic to our executive team and I mentioned that I was going to have our team build a curriculum for all of our employees to take. And almost no one in the room had heard of ChatGPT. Within six months. When our information services people looked at who was using an artificial intelligence tool on our servers, on our Internet, it was over 50% of our employees. So the fastest adoption, really in history. And that is the way of the world today. Speed of change is something that is different today than in the past. I think the challenges are otherwise the same. And so one of the things that we are looking here is how do we build adaptive capacity in our leadership? And in the past, when you wanted to bring on something new, you often had a change management approach, and you often had an individual person who was the project lead or the change management leader. And I think that's becoming a thing of the past. And I say that because the challenge with thinking about change leadership as project based is that that assumes there's a beginning and an end to that change. And I think that that's no longer the case. When we look at our adoption of artificial intelligence, it was not project based and it is an ongoing affair. There are new tools that come available on an almost daily basis. And so we're trying to build resilience in our leaders and understand that while challenging the optimism that this era is providing, the things that we can now do for patients that we couldn't do in the past are truly remarkable. And so that sense of optimism is key. Building resilience across an organization and now more than ever, building the learning organization is critical to success. The stress on workers if they are not able to keep up and utilize some of the new tools is a real challenge. And many of our employees in the past worried about will I be replaced by artificial intelligence? And we tell them we are not looking to replace employees with artificial intelligence, but if you're not willing and able to learn how to use AI tools to, you might be replaced by somebody who does. And so we've really invested time, effort and emphasis on how do we upskill our workforce so that they are ready to meet the demands of this ever changing environment we are living in.

[A]

That's amazing to hear and you know, truly wise words when thinking about the future and technology and really what it will take in order to grow and develop and continue to provide care for communities. Dr. Davis, thank you so much for being part of the podcast today. It's been such a pleasure speaking with you and I look forward to connecting with you again soon.

[B]

Well, I always appreciate my discussions with you and with the Beckers team, and I look forward to potentially seeing you and others in person in the November meeting where I think I will be doing a panel.

[A]

Absolutely. We're thrilled that you're going to be with us in November. I certainly will be there and it will definitely have to find a time to connect and catch up. And you know that I'll be great space for us to continue this conversation to dig a little bit deeper into the specifics on how you're looking at the future and what is really going to be important for growth and development and more. So thank you again, Dr. Davis, and I'll be excited to see you in November.