Cleveland Clinic executive leaders described a future where artificial intelligence reduces administrative burdens, supports disease management, and extends care beyond hospital walls, speaking during a roundtable at the organization's A.I. Summit for Healthcare Professionals. The panel, moderated by Scott R. Steele, MD, outlined changes already underway and offered a view of what the technology means for the workforce delivering that care.
Reducing the work around patient care
Some of the most immediate effects involve the documentation and clerical tasks that consume clinician time. Tomislav Mihaljevic, MD, CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic, pointed to ambient AI, which records and analyzes clinical encounters to generate documentation without requiring a physician to face a computer screen. The technology has allowed clinicians "to step away from the keyboard and actually face a patient and speak to them," he said.
Miguel Regueiro, MD, Executive Vice President and Enterprise Chief of Staff, described using ambient AI during visits with patients and family members who did not speak English. The system distinguished the patient from family members, generated his notes, translated information into English, and produced an after-visit summary in the patient's language. "Overnight, this changed the way we practice," he said. Dr. Regueiro also said his initial concerns about accuracy and hallucinations have eased. After briefly discussing diet and lifestyle with a patient with Crohn's disease, the system expanded on the conversation and generated a summary of recommendations. He has found these AI-generated outputs to be "100% accurate."
The potential to reduce routine work extends beyond physicians. Kelly Hancock, DNP, RN, Executive Vice President and Chief Caregiver Officer, said caregivers see AI as a way to ease administrative burden and augment their work, allowing them to "be at the top of their licensure" and "really augment the care that they deliver." For nonpatient-facing roles, she pointed to repetitive work in coding, billing, human resources, and call centers. Technology that handles these tasks can free employees for other responsibilities. "They really look at AI as an opportunity for career growth and development and a way to continue to enhance their skills rather than a threat," she said. This is one reason AI-related training paths, such as AI for Medical Billers, are gaining attention among administrative staff whose daily workflows are shifting.
Rohit Chandra, PhD, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer, predicted that reducing administrative work could become one of AI's most visible effects. Asked what health-care professionals might look back on differently five years from now, he said, "We'll just wonder why we spend all of our time shuffling paper around."
Supporting disease management and hospital operations
AI is also being applied more directly to disease management. Jorge A. Guzman, MD, Executive Vice President of U.S. markets, said Cleveland Clinic is beginning to use AI to identify high-acuity or potentially lethal conditions, such as sepsis, and to manage chronic diseases in ways that are more predictable, standardized, and automated.
Dr. Guzman also pointed to hospital operations. The organization is using AI to help match patient transfer requests with available capacity and clinical teams appropriate for the patient's acuity, while also applying it to operating room and ambulatory space utilization.
Bringing more care to the patient
Several panelists identified access as an area where AI could have a substantial longer-term effect. Dr. Mihaljevic described access as a limiting factor in health care around the world, with patients sometimes waiting weeks or months for services. "Artificial intelligence can help us identify conditions even before patients seek care, steer them toward providers who can help them, or provide care and counsel without the involvement of a health-care provider in every episode," he said.
Dr. Regueiro described a more immediate example from his own specialty. Cleveland Clinic works with an AI company to provide home and remote monitoring for patients with Crohn's disease, giving patients around-the-clock access to the platform while maintaining a connection with the clinical team. He expects more care to be brought to patients at home rather than requiring them to travel to traditional care settings. "AI is bringing Cleveland Clinic to the patient. The patient doesn't have to come to Cleveland Clinic. That's the future," he said. This shift toward technology-enabled care delivery reflects broader trends in AI for Healthcare, where the focus is moving from in-person visits to continuous, remote support.
Changing roles, preserving human connection
For Dr. Mihaljevic, AI's potential to expand access challenges the idea that the technology will eliminate the need for health-care professionals. "The amount and type of health care that we should be providing exceeds our current provisions by orders of magnitude," he said. "AI is going to allow us to reach all those who are in need of health care and currently have absolutely no access to it." He said health-care professionals should expect their work and skills to evolve as AI becomes more integrated into care. "Our roles will be different, and they should be." He framed changing roles as part of medical progress rather than something to resist. "If I were to continue to operate on my patients in the same way that I did many years ago when I finished my training, that would be a failure," he said.
Looking ahead, Dr. Regueiro expects AI to play an expanding role across health-care delivery, particularly in improving access and supporting cognitive tasks. Its role in physical procedures and surgery is more limited today, though he noted the technology is changing. What he does not expect to disappear is the personal connection between patients and their providers. "We can't lose the human touch," Dr. Regueiro said. "There's still a desire to look somebody in the eye and understand what they're saying. I don't think that's ever going to go away."
Why this matters for healthcare professionals
The panelists described a workplace where AI does not replace clinicians but changes what they spend time on. For physicians, that means fewer hours facing a screen and more face-to-face time with patients. For nurses and administrative staff, it means routine coding, billing, and call-center work shifting to automated systems, with opportunities to move into higher-skill roles. The technology is already in use at one of the country's largest health systems, not as a pilot but as an embedded tool. Healthcare professionals who understand where AI is being applied today - in documentation, patient monitoring, capacity matching, and translation - will be better positioned as their own roles evolve.
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