The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the hospice space is changing how chief information officers and other technology-focused leaders are approaching their jobs.
Hospices nationwide are investing in AI systems to transform virtually every aspect of their businesses. This includes both nonprofit and for-profit providers and organizations of all sizes, though larger, well-capitalized companies and investing more heavily.
“We’re super excited about the capability that we’re seeing. We’re at the same time kind of nervous about all of it,” Patrick Hale, CIO of VITAS Healthcare, told Hospice News. “But it’s such an exciting time to be adopting AI in healthcare and in IT. It is super invigorating for folks. At the same time, it’s a change management challenge.”
Founded in 1978, VITAS provides hospice and palliative care across 15 states and the District of Columbia. The Florida-based company has a total of 30 inpatient hospice centers and serves several counties in its home state. The company is a subsidiary of Chemed Corp. (NYSE: CHE).
The company has made a diverse range of AI investments. VITAS is using Claude from Anthropic to accelerate its software development lifecycle, which has “dramatically” increased throughput and velocity, according to Hale. AI is also integrated into its homegrown electronic health record system, which has made it more stable and effective, he said.
VITAS will soon begin using the Cresta AI solution in its call centers. The system monitors calls with patients and families and helps ensure that every interaction is quality-assured. It can support coaching for agents, helping ensure they’re well prepared to engage with callers and that those interactions are positive, Hale indicated.
Also, VITAS applies Huey, an AI bot that serves as a central source of administrative and IT support. The hospice provider is also in the process of developing its own proprietary AI products.
The Florida-based nonprofit Empath Health is also going all-in on AI. Empath is leveraging AI to improve workforce productivity by reducing administrative burden, accelerating access to information and enabling employees to spend more time on “high-value” work, according to Bill Riemer, the organization’s senior vice president for information systems and technology.
Empath is also using AI to enhance patient access, strengthen after-hours triage capabilities and improve care coordination. The nonprofit has also implemented a new enterprise data platform and data-rich Snowflake environment to deliver predictive insights and operational intelligence. This includes piloting tools that allow users to ask natural-language questions of organizational data and receive AI-generated analytics and insights, Riemer said.
Hospices are hard pressed to keep up with the rate of AI innovation.
“The reality is that the pace of AI innovation is moving faster than any individual CIO can track. No one can realistically follow every new model, announcement, or technological advancement,” Riemer told Hospice News. “Instead, organizations need a disciplined process for identifying which developments align with their highest-priority business challenges and strategic initiatives.”
Empath Health annually serves more than 100,000 individuals and provides care to one-in-five hospice patients across Florida. The organization’s “Full Life Care” services include hospice, home health, palliative care, grief support and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), as well as HIV/STI prevention.
While hospices are discovering the benefits of AI, they are also becoming more aware of the risks, including those related to data security, governance and regulatory compliance, Hale indicated.
One major concern is who else is using AI — including hackers.
“Hackers are now doing AI-enabled hacks in near real-time. They’re weaponizing vulnerabilities faster than they ever have, and so they’re coming after every company in in the world,” Hale said. “We’re going to end up in a place where you’re going to have ‘white hat’ agents that are going to fight ‘black hat’ agents, and your cybersecurity is going to depend on an agent that’s keeping you protected.”
To that end, providers must evolve their auditing and oversight capabilities beyond traditional cybersecurity practices to account for rapidly changing AI technologies, Riemer said. HIPAA compliance is also a paramount concern.
All of these changes mean that hospice technology executives themselves must evolve, according to Hale.
“You can get on the steamroller or be part of the road. So, I would say [the CIO role] has changed a lot … It is just a completely different animal than what was before this all happened,” Hale said. “Even a year ago, your job description was different than it should be now, and so it’s a massive change for the technical workforce in that whenever there’s a big innovation like this, you always get set to zero. You have to learn brand new things. It’s the same for CIOs.”
CIOs and other tech executives have a more expansive role in the age of AI, according to Riemer.
“Today’s CIOs must increasingly serve as business strategists and governance leaders, not just technology experts. They need a strong understanding of evolving AI frameworks, healthcare-specific risks and concerns, data governance and regulatory considerations,” he said. “Equally important is understanding where human judgment and decision-making must remain central, and where AI can responsibly assist or augment operational processes.”
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