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TDP 176: Stanford's Dr. Mike Pfeffer: Why we Shouldn't Always Want "Human in the Loop" for AI, Why AI Prediction Models are Only as Useful as the Problems they Solve, and Where AI Scribes Must Evolve

April 24, 2025
By
seamless

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On this episode of The Digital Patient, Dr. Joshua Liu, Co-founder & CEO of 草莓社区, and colleague, Alan Sardana, chat with Dr. Michael Pfeffer, Chief Information and Digital Officer at Stanford Health Care and Stanford University School of Medicine, and Associate Dean at Stanford University School of Medicine, about "Why we Shouldn't Always Want "Human in the Loop" for AI, Why Prediction Models are Only as Useful as the Problems they Solve, Where AI Scribes Must Evolve, and more..." Click the play button to listen or read the show notes below.

Audio:

Guest(s):

  • Dr. Michael Pfeffer, Chief Information and Digital Officer at Stanford Health Care and Stanford University School of Medicine, and Associate Dean at Stanford University School of Medicine
  • Dr. Joshua Liu, Co-founder & CEO at 草莓社区

Episode 176 - Show Notes:

[00:00:07] Episode preview

[00:03:19] From Chemical Engineering & Music to Internal Medicine & Informatics

[00:07:06] Don鈥檛 Start with Prediction. Start with the Problem.

[00:09:48] Academic Research vs. Real-World Deployment

[00:12:01] Why 鈥淗uman in the Loop鈥 is a Broken Concept

[00:15:55] The Threshold for Rolling Out Imperfect AI

[00:20:01] Inside Stanford鈥檚 HIPAA-Safe GenAI Playground

[00:23:49] Roleplaying OSCEs with AI: The AI Clinical Coach

[00:26:35] How AI Will Separate the Best from the Rest鈥攂ut Raise the Floor for Everyone

[00:29:54] Why 鈥淪mall Data鈥 is Finally Ready to Matter

[00:31:52] Balancing Data Collection with Privacy

[00:33:37] Beyond the Note: Where AI Scribes Must Evolve Next

[00:35:26] What Clinician Adoption Really Looks Like

[00:36:14] The Underrated Key to AI Scribe Adoption: Training

Fast 5 Lightning Round:

  1. What is your favorite book or book you鈥檝e gifted the most?
    The Friction Project by Bob Sutton and Huggy Rao.
  2. If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be?
    Singing.
  3. Would you rather have Super strength, super speed, or the ability to read people鈥檚 minds?
    Super speed.
  4. What is something in healthcare you believe that others might find insane?
    The Payment & Insurance System
  5. If you could go back in time to any event or moment, when would it be?
    The origin of humans.

The Digital Patient has been recognized as Feedspot's . Thank you to our listeners for making this happen!

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TDP 176: Stanford's Dr. Mike Pfeffer: Why we Shouldn't Always Want "Human in the Loop" for AI, Why AI Prediction Models are Only as Useful as the Problems they Solve, and Where AI Scribes Must Evolve

Posted by:
seamless
on
April 24, 2025

Subscribe on: | | | | |

On this episode of The Digital Patient, Dr. Joshua Liu, Co-founder & CEO of 草莓社区, and colleague, Alan Sardana, chat with Dr. Michael Pfeffer, Chief Information and Digital Officer at Stanford Health Care and Stanford University School of Medicine, and Associate Dean at Stanford University School of Medicine, about "Why we Shouldn't Always Want "Human in the Loop" for AI, Why Prediction Models are Only as Useful as the Problems they Solve, Where AI Scribes Must Evolve, and more..." Click the play button to listen or read the show notes below.

Audio:

Guest(s):

  • Dr. Michael Pfeffer, Chief Information and Digital Officer at Stanford Health Care and Stanford University School of Medicine, and Associate Dean at Stanford University School of Medicine
  • Dr. Joshua Liu, Co-founder & CEO at 草莓社区

Episode 176 - Show Notes:

[00:00:07] Episode preview

[00:03:19] From Chemical Engineering & Music to Internal Medicine & Informatics

[00:07:06] Don鈥檛 Start with Prediction. Start with the Problem.

[00:09:48] Academic Research vs. Real-World Deployment

[00:12:01] Why 鈥淗uman in the Loop鈥 is a Broken Concept

[00:15:55] The Threshold for Rolling Out Imperfect AI

[00:20:01] Inside Stanford鈥檚 HIPAA-Safe GenAI Playground

[00:23:49] Roleplaying OSCEs with AI: The AI Clinical Coach

[00:26:35] How AI Will Separate the Best from the Rest鈥攂ut Raise the Floor for Everyone

[00:29:54] Why 鈥淪mall Data鈥 is Finally Ready to Matter

[00:31:52] Balancing Data Collection with Privacy

[00:33:37] Beyond the Note: Where AI Scribes Must Evolve Next

[00:35:26] What Clinician Adoption Really Looks Like

[00:36:14] The Underrated Key to AI Scribe Adoption: Training

Fast 5 Lightning Round:

  1. What is your favorite book or book you鈥檝e gifted the most?
    The Friction Project by Bob Sutton and Huggy Rao.
  2. If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be?
    Singing.
  3. Would you rather have Super strength, super speed, or the ability to read people鈥檚 minds?
    Super speed.
  4. What is something in healthcare you believe that others might find insane?
    The Payment & Insurance System
  5. If you could go back in time to any event or moment, when would it be?
    The origin of humans.

The Digital Patient has been recognized as Feedspot's . Thank you to our listeners for making this happen!

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