- The FSU College of Business hosted the inaugural Business of Healthcare Summit Friday.
- Among the topics discussed: the healthcare worker shortage, accessibility to healthcare in rural areas and the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
- Watch now to hear from a student in attendance who picked up some great knowledge while networking with industry leaders.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Worker shortages, inaccessible healthcare, artificial intelligence...
Just a few of the conversations about how to improve our healthcare system happening in our neighborhood.
I'm Alberto Camargo, your College Town neighborhood reporter.
I'm taking you inside the issues discussed at the inaugural Business of Healthcare Summit, and why it matters to you.
The first elephant in the room: a healthcare worker shortage.
A Florida Hospital Association analysis in 2021 estimated the state will be short 59,000 nurses by 2035.
Several panels discussed how to better recruit new workers.
But also how to retain current workers and keep them happy to work in healthcare.
FSU student Peyton Jennings says that conversation was refreshing.
"Talk about culture and talk about how important it is to ask your employees questions. To figure out why they want to leave, why they want to stay, what they get from being with the company."
The National Institute of Health says 20% of Americans live in rural areas, yet only 10% of physicians practice there.
Florida Blue says its partnership with FSU — including a $400,000 grant awarded in 2019 — is working to address that.
"That really allowed us to work together to train clinicians really for rural health -- think about minority populations -- and place those individuals in those communities. "
Something else discussed at the summit, the use of artificial intelligence.
AI can make more accurate diagnoses and create personalized treatment for each patient.
Jennings told me he's excited about the possibilities of AI tools for doctors and nurses.
But he's also wary.
"Specifically with doctors and nurses having maybe less education going into their jobs because they've relied on ChatGPT and AI throughout their education careers."
Conversations that, in the long term, could help us all.
The Business of Healthcare Summit plans to keep the conversation going annually, with future locations planned around the state of Florida.
In College Town, Alberto Camargo, ABC27.
