OSF HealthCare is reskilling 24,000 employees to quell job-related AI fears

Key takeaways

OSF HealthCare, a 16-hospital system, built a multidisciplinary team led by VP of Planning Melissa Knuth to educate more than 24,000 employees on generative AI, which VP and Associate CIO Ray Sharp says is how leaders should answer staff fears that AI will eliminate jobs. The system’s AI governance committee requires looking first to core vendors Epic, Microsoft and ServiceNow before buying one-off tools, and pairs that with a standard intake process to prevent shadow AI and track adoption against measurable outcomes. Sharp’s formula is culture before technology, governance before scale and workforce before automation.

Artificial intelligence isn’t just reshaping strategic objectives for healthcare systems; it’s redefining how care is delivered and how processes are executed.

For large, geographically dispersed systems like OSF HealthCare, the ability to leverage AI to automate routine tasks and more effectively channel resources is becoming increasingly valuable. But for the individuals whose roles are changing, it can be downright scary, according to Ray Sharp, VP and Associate CIO.

“There is a perception that it’s going to eliminate jobs,” he said.

As adoption of AI agents and other tools becomes deeper and more pervasive in healthcare, Sharp believes the onus is on leaders to meet those fears head-on. “We need to make sure we’re talking to our employees about how things like workforce automation can help them do their jobs, and hopefully allow them to progress in their careers.”

Building a foundation

This is where reskilling can pay dividends, both for individuals and organizations as they strive to keep pace with technological shifts.

But it’s no small task, especially for a 16-hospital system. And so, OSF Healthcare went big with the effort, creating a multidisciplinary team to educate more than 24,000 Mission partners about generative AI. The goal of the program, led by Melissa Knuth, VP of Planning, was to ensure users know how to safely and effectively leverage advanced analytics tools.

With that structure in place — along with an integrated EHR platform with Epic — OSF has rolled out several AI initiatives in recent years. Among them are Primary Care On the Go, a mobile clinic; SpendRule, a contract intelligence system designed to prevent overpayments; and RapidAI, a platform to help clinicians analyze medical images, identify stroke conditions, and coordinate treatment.

In fact, an entire division, OSF OnCall Digital Health, was established to oversee the services included under its umbrella, from hospital-at-home programs to virtual assistants. The latter, according to Sharp, has been pivotal in boosting patient satisfaction while improving access to care, which has been a challenge for many organizations — especially those based in rural areas.

“Access is a critical piece. There’s a lot we can do to improve it,” he said, noting that it’s been a key area of focus for the OnCall division. “They’re helping us to prioritize” by communicating with stakeholders across the organization about their most pressing needs and determining how technology can help address them.

Governing philosophy

As a leader, one of his priorities is to make sure it’s happening that way, and not in reverse.

“We’re trying to solve problems, first and foremost,” said Sharp. “We’re not taking a solution and looking at where to apply it. We’re defining problems and then looking for solutions.” To help enforce that philosophy, OSF HealthCare enacted an AI governance committee with representation from all disciplines, which will “make sure we stay aligned within our strategic priorities.”

One of the committee’s requirements is to look first for offerings from current vendor partners rather than seeking one-offs. And when it comes to AI offerings, there are plenty of options available from Epic, Microsoft and ServiceNow – three of its core partners.

“As things are kicking off more in the agentic space, we’re making sure we look at their platforms and understand their roadmaps so that we don’t duplicate anything,” he noted. “That’s one of the biggest parts; making sure we have a great inventory of what we have and what’s coming down the pike.”

Shadow AI

And once AI is in place, whether it’s to assist with analytics or create reports, the next critical piece involves monitoring. “We need to be tracking adoption and use, and tying that to measurable outcomes,” Sharp said. And that means “keeping track of our portfolio with a good intake process,” and establishing guardrails around privacy and security, while also providing ethical, legal, and clinical oversight.

“Before, we always worried about shadow IT. Now it’s shadow AI,” he noted. Therefore, “having a transparent and standard intake process for everything AI is really important.” Not just to build trust among users, but also to help establish credibility with the board. “When we’re able to do that, it allows the organization to prioritize AI.”

For OSF HealthCare, that comes from following a simple formula: culture before technology, governance before scale, and workforce before automation. Holding onto those core values, according to Sharp, will help carry the organization forward as AI continues to advance in both reach and capability.

“IT is there to help the organization deliver value,” he said. Through generative AI, “people have become more productive,” which has led to better outcomes. “And that’s the whole point: to help people deliver better care and provide value to our patients and Mission partners.”

Kate Gamble is an award-winning healthcare journalist and editor with more than 20 years of experience covering healthcare IT. She has interviewed hundreds of healthcare leaders, and has focused on numerous topics, including digital transformation, patient experience, rural healthcare, physician and nursing leadership, and more. She can be reached at [email protected].