Akshay Sharma at HIT LAB: Unleashing AI's Potential in Healthcare: A New Era of Efficiency and Care
At the HIT LAB event, Lyric’s Chief AI Officer, Akshay Sharma, paints a vivid picture of how generative AI can simplify healthcare’s complicated administrative landscape. He begins by highlighting a sobering truth: out of the $4 trillion spent on U.S. healthcare annually, a full $1 trillion goes to administrative costs. This burden includes billing hassles, claims processing, and endless customer support calls—all of which add complexity and cost to the system. As a result, consumers face higher premiums, and providers spend precious hours mired in paperwork rather than caring for patients.
Akshay believes that the newest wave of AI, particularly generative AI and large language models, can tackle these inefficiencies head-on. He draws parallels to past technological revolutions like the Industrial, Computing, and Mobile eras, all of which ultimately improved human quality of life. Now, with generative AI understanding natural language, healthcare can break free from rigid, specialized tools. Instead, we can use AI to process policies, contracts, and clinical information written mostly in English, enabling systems to “reason with” complex data.
Akshay envisions AI co-pilots that help process claims, understand medical policies, and quickly clarify denial reasons. Such breakthroughs, he insists, don’t require starting from scratch—foundational large language models already excel at understanding and generating natural language. The key is adding context, safety measures, and fine-tuning. Over time, this can free clinicians from tedious tasks, lower administrative expenses, and restore “joy” for every stakeholder, from patients to providers. While challenges remain (like ensuring AI’s responsible, safe use), Akshay is confident that generative AI holds the greatest potential to revolutionize healthcare operations and restore a focus on genuine care.
Additional Videos
