Mass General Brigham expert highlights how AI-powered clinical systems are improving patient safety, reducing medication errors, and enhancing healthcare quality worldwide.
Professor David Bates, Medical Director of Clinical and Quality Analysis at Mass General Brigham, says artificial intelligence and advanced health information technology are among the most promising innovations shaping the future of patient care.
Speaking on the SGH Hospital of the Future Podcast, Professor Bates discussed how AI-powered clinical decision support systems and biomedical informatics are helping hospitals improve safety, reduce medication errors, and optimise healthcare delivery.
The podcast episode featured discussions with Dr Goh Su-Yen and Dr Jasmine Ong, who explored the growing role of AI and digital innovation in healthcare systems.
Professor Bates explained that biomedical informatics — the application of computing and data science in healthcare — is becoming increasingly important as hospitals seek better ways to manage patient information, improve communication, and support clinical decision-making.
He highlighted how AI-based clinical decision support systems can actively monitor patient conditions, identify potential risks earlier, and help healthcare professionals make safer and more effective treatment decisions.
According to Professor Bates, health information technology has already shown strong results in reducing preventable patient harm, particularly in medication safety and care quality monitoring.
Professor Bates also discussed the importance of active surveillance systems that use healthcare data to identify safety issues and ensure healthcare systems deliver high-quality care consistently.
In the podcast, he emphasised that while AI offers significant opportunities, healthcare organisations must carefully implement these technologies to ensure both safety and effectiveness for patients.
Professor Bates currently serves as co-Director of the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Bioinformatics Learning Systems at Mass General Brigham and is also a Senior Physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
He previously served as Chief Quality Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and remains a Professor at both Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Professor Bates is internationally recognised for his work in patient safety, healthcare quality, and the use of technology in medicine. He has published more than 1,200 peer-reviewed research papers and has been repeatedly recognised by Modern Healthcare magazine among the most powerful figures in U.S. healthcare.
Dr Goh Su-Yen currently serves as Senior Consultant in Endocrinology at Singapore General Hospital, Head and Senior Consultant at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Diabetes Centre, and Group Director of Innovation and Transformation at SingHealth.
Dr Jasmine Ong is Principal Clinical Pharmacist at Singapore General Hospital and leads multiple AI and healthcare technology innovation projects within SingHealth’s AI Office.
The discussion reflects growing global interest in how AI technologies can help healthcare providers improve efficiency, patient outcomes, and clinical safety while supporting doctors and healthcare workers in increasingly complex medical environments.
Source: Singapore General Hospital
