Gastroenterology has quietly become one of the best case studies in clinical AI, not because of anything dramatic in the procedure room, but because the field targeted the workflow-heavy, margin-sensitive tasks first: detection assistance, documentation, triage and scheduling. The result is real efficiency in exactly the places where ASCs and procedural services feel the pressure.
The transferable lesson for cardiac program is the sequencing. GI did not begin by trying to automate the hardest clinical judgement. It began where the work was repetitive, the ground truth was clear, and the throughput gains were measurable. That built trust, generated data and funded the harder work that followed.
Cardiac surgery has its own equivalents. Pre-operative triage and scheduling, structured operative documentation, and the routine surveillance of post-procedural signals are our workflow-heavy zones. These are unglamorous and they are precisely where a disciplined AI strategy should start.
There is a margins argument that procedural leaders will recognize. Where throughput matters and reimbursement is tight, the AI that pays for itself is the AI that adds cases to the day or hours to the surgeon, not the AI that promises a breakthrough in the procedure itself. Gastroenterology understood that order of operations.
The mistake cardiac programs can avoid is skipping straight to the “heroic use” case. Build the workflow layer first, prove the value, accumulate the validated data, and the more ambitious intraoperative tools arrive on a foundation that can actually support them.
Dr. Khalpey is chief medical AI officer at Atari AI, chair of applied clinical AI at the Atari AI Foundation and director of Khalpey AI Lab. He is a Fortune 500 advisor and author of The AI Prescription, an exploration into how AI enhances human expertise in medicine.
At the Becker’s 32nd Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, taking place October 29-31 in Chicago, ASC leaders, surgeons and healthcare executives will explore strategies to drive growth, enhance operational performance, navigate reimbursement challenges and prepare for the future of ambulatory surgery. Apply for complimentary registration now.