AI at Lee Health: Supporting clinicians, enhancing care - Florida Weekly

AI at Lee Health: Supporting clinicians, enhancing care

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From surgical robotics to advanced diagnostic tools and emerging treatment technologies, Lee Health continues to integrate innovation across its care delivery system to enhance patient outcomes. As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes industries worldwide, our health system continues to explore new ways to use these technologies to support patients, strengthen clinical decision-making and streamline care delivery.

At Lee Health, AI is designed to enhance the work of clinical teams—not replace it—helping providers make informed decisions, improve efficiency, and spend more time focused on patient care. To help foster transparency and understanding around these efforts, the Lee Health AI and Digital Transformation team recently hosted “The Intelligence Inside: Explore AI at Lee Health” at Lee Health Coconut Point. The event welcomed both staff and community members interested in learning more about how AI is currently being used and where it is headed.

“We extended an invitation to this event to community members because building trust with our patients and community is one of our top priorities,” said Wendy Victor, director of artificial intelligence and digital transformation at Lee Health. “AI is evolving rapidly, and we want to help people understand not only how we’re using it, but that we are doing so safely, responsibly, and with strong protections in place for patient privacy.”

During the event, attendees heard from a patient who shared his experience meeting with a cardiologist using an AI-powered documentation tool known as AI Scribe. With patient consent, this technology listens during clinical visits, transcribes conversations in real time, and generates structured clinical notes. By streamlining documentation, it allows clinicians to spend more time engaging directly with patients while maintaining accurate and comprehensive records.

Another example of AI in use at Lee Health is in radiology, where advanced tools help identify critical findings more quickly. These systems operate in the background to flag urgent cases for prioritization—an important capability given that radiologists may review as many as 100 imaging studies per day. Rather than replacing clinical expertise, technology supports radiologists by helping improve speed, consistency and overall workflow efficiency.

At Golisano Children’s Hospital, teams have also integrated technology into patient rooms through digital whiteboards that support virtual care and real-time communication. These tools pull information directly from the electronic health record, providing timely updates for patients and families. The system also includes Spanish and Creole language support to help ensure clear understanding and more equitable communication.

A key feature of “The Intelligence Inside” event was the AI Playground, an interactive space where attendees could explore emerging tools firsthand. Stations included demonstrations of chatbots, prompt-based AI tools, clinical assistants and the digital whiteboard system. Subject matter experts were available throughout the event to answer questions and provide guidance on how these technologies are being applied in healthcare settings.

Overall, attendees left the event with a deeper understanding of how Lee Health is thoughtfully integrating AI into clinical and operational workflows, prioritizing practical use cases. The AI and Digital Transformation Team hopes to plan more public events like this one.

This is an important moment in healthcare innovation. Our focus remains clear: using technology thoughtfully to strengthen care delivery, support our teams, and ensure patients continue to receive safe, high-quality care built on trust.