Data scientist Emily Hadley on navigating AI in healthcare, offering practical advice for maintaining patient agency amid algorithmic decision-making.
Summary
This interview with data scientist Emily Hadley examines the intersection of artificial intelligence and healthcare through a deeply personal lens. Hadley's journey began when her own health diagnosis coincided with her graduate studies in analytics, revealing how algorithm-driven systems often affect patient care—especially through insurance claim denials and clinical documentation. The conversation offers practical guidance for patients navigating AI-influenced healthcare, including reviewing AI-generated clinical notes for accuracy, challenging algorithmic insurance decisions, and insisting on human intervention when automated systems fail. Hadley advocates for preserving patient agency and rights within increasingly automated systems while highlighting how algorithm review boards are striving to provide governance in this largely unregulated space. The interview concludes with resources for staying informed about developments in healthcare AI, emphasizing that while AI tools are rapidly advancing, patient advocacy remains vital.
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Contents
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EpisodeProemA Data Scientist AwakesBuilding Guardrails with AI GovernanceHallucinations and Validation with AI in ResearchPrompt Engineering-Conversational AIVerification and VigilanceStaying InformedReflectionRelated episodes from Health Hats
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Production Team
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Inspired by and Grateful to
Eric Pinaud, Laura Marcia, Amy Price, Dave deBronkart,
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Prompt Engineering
Algorithm Review Boards at RTI
Dave deBronkart's Patient's Use AI
Episode
Proem
This year, I switched from Medicare Advantage to Traditional Medicare. I still needed to purchase a supplemental commercial plan to cover what Medicare Part B didn’t. However, the supplemental commercial plan denied some services the previous Medicare Advantage plan covered. Why? What algorithms did each plan use to determine coverage? How can I manage this?
Welcome to the third installment of Artificial Intelligence Can Work for You. We’ve explored how I use AI in my podcast productions and delved into some AI basics with Info-Tech leader Eric Pinaud.
I asked Emily Hadley, a data scientist at RTI specializing in AI algorithms for insurance coverage decisions, to join us. Early in her graduate studies, Emily was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. This led to her interest in studying insurance algorithms.
A Data Scientist Awakes
Health Hats: How did you gain expertise in AI?
Emily Hadley: Great question. I was diagnosed right as I started a graduate program in analytics. In my undergraduate studies, I studied statistics in public policy. I liked the idea of using data to shape how policymakers make decisions, especially in the US. I had done some work with AmeriCorps and then went to grad school to really hone those skills. Being diagnosed at the same time that I was in grad school meant that I was navigating to new, informative, and educational areas. And I think that that's when I really came to realize the power of data and the power of AI in shaping the way that organizations and people make decisions. We live in a really algorithm-fueled society. We constantly encounter technology and AI systems, even when we don't realize it.
An example I give is that I've faced many problems getting insurance to cover the things it is supposed to. I didn't realize until a couple of years ago that this is ...