The use of artificial intelligence in rural health care was the focus of the 25th Annual Rural Health Conference held April 9 at The University of Alabama. The conference was hosted by the Institute for Rural Health Research, which is part of the College of Community Health Sciences.
Dr. James Geyer, medical director of the Institute, opened the conference outlining how Alabama can play a leading role in artificial intelligence development. “The goal is to establish a regional hub that supports AI innovation not only in Alabama but across the Southeast, while ensuring new technologies are developed and implemented in community settings,” said Geyer.
Dr. Clifford Henderson, dean of the UA College of Engineering, also addressed attendees, describing artificial intelligence as both an exciting and challenging development. He noted that the pace of innovation is accelerating across nearly every sector, including health care, industry and government. Henderson said discussions about AI are increasingly vital as institutions work to understand and responsibly apply AI technologies.
According to the National Science Foundation, artificial intelligence refers to computer systems designed to learn from data, recognize patterns and language, and help make decisions – tasks that typically require human intelligence.
The conference, “AI and Rural Resilience: Empowering Rural Healthcare,” featured a series of presentations from experts across Alabama and the country who spoke about how artificial intelligence is shaping health care delivery, research and education.
Presentation Highlights
“Why AI operating systems now?”
Artificial intelligence tools are becoming more advanced and need better systems to manage them, said Dr. Jiaqi Gong, director of the Alabama Center for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. He said AI has moved beyond single purpose tools to systems that handle many tasks at once.
Today’s AI needs to find and store more information, connect to different tools and monitor performance. He compared AI operating systems to a control center that helps AI understand instructions and complete tasks. Gong also said there is growing concern about trust, as AI tools are developing faster than the rules and systems needed to oversee them. He stressed the importance of building reliable systems so that AI uses accurate information and that it is used responsibly.
“What matters for roadmaps/institute‑scale efforts: Funding logic”
The National Science Foundation is shifting its funding approach of AI to long-term projects that encourage data sharing and collaboration among universities, industry and government, according to Jemin George, program director in the National Science Foundation’s Innovation and Technology Ecosystems Division.
George explained that many scientific breakthroughs happened only after researchers created large data collections that could be shared. He said AI development slows when important data are kept separate or when there are no clear ways to measure whether new tools work. He said the lack of shared and organized data is a major challenge for AI progress.
“AI in rural health care”
Artificial intelligence can help rural communities, but use of the technology can also raise important concerns, said Dr. Eric Wallace, chief medical information and digital officer at the UAB Heerisnk School of Medicine in Birmingham, Ala.
He said AI has the potential to improve access to care and reduce paperwork for clinicians, adding that AI tools can help with scheduling appointments and completing documentation. But he cautioned that challenges remain, including protecting patient privacy, addressing workforce concerns and avoiding bias in systems that may not include enough rural data. Wallace emphasized that AI should support health care providers, not replace their judgment.
“Business and clinical intelligence: Leveraging AI to augment and scale rural health care”
Artificial intelligence can improve day-to-day operations in rural health care practices and works best when it fits smoothly into existing clinical and business processes, said David Box, senior vice president at Emids, a leading provider of digital transformation solutions based in Nashville, Tenn.
Box said AI is most effective when it leads to clear actions rather than extra alerts or unused reports. He shared examples that included tools that help reduce missed appointments and systems that note patients who might need care sooner than their next appointment.
Box emphasized that rural health care organizations should start with small projects, focus on real problems and use AI to make work easier without adding complexity.
“AI across academic medicine: Integrating artificial intelligence into education, research, and clinical practice”
Use of artificial intelligence can be further integrated into medical education, research and patient care, according to a panel discussion led by Drs. Jon Baccus and Robbin Young, clinical assistant professors in the Department of Family, Internal, and Rural Medicine at CCHS.
Panelists included Dr. Tamer Elsayed, CCHS clinical associate professor and chair of the Department of Family, Internal, and Rural Medicine; Dr. Ansley Baccus, CCHS clinical assistant professor in the Department of Family, Internal, and Rural Medicine; and Benjamin Shankles, systems analyst in Health IT at CCHS.
The panelists discussed AI tools that help create clinical notes, support medical decision-making, and manage education and research tasks. They emphasized that these tools are designed to reduce administrative work while still requiring human oversight to prevent errors and bias.