Reducing clinical risk through AI-enhanced decision support (YEL 2025)

Authors: Asma AlZaabi (Oman), Leila Sales (Portugal), Mabel Odobea Owiredu (Ghana), Maryam Al Raeesi (UAE), Dr Shamsa Lootah (UAE)

Reviewers: Miyele Kaliwanda (YEL 2022) and Natalia Allué (YEL 2022)

Introduction

Across the world, healthcare systems are reimagining how clinical models can enhance quality and safety. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and data-driven tools has opened new possibilities for improving accuracy, reducing risk, and supporting clinicians in complex decisions. Yet while technology plays a role, the true driver of safer and higher-quality care remains leadership: the ability to integrate innovation into compassionate, evidence-based models of care. 

Globally, nearly two-thirds of hospitals have adopted at least one AI-enabled tool, while only 12% report having a formal AI governance framework (Health Affairs, 2024; Censinet & Ponemon Institute, 2024). These figures reflect both the promise of digital transformation and the widening gap between innovation and oversight. 

We chose to explore the theme of AI-enabled decision support because it represents one of the most transformative shifts in how care is delivered. Around the world, AI tools are helping clinicians detect disease earlier, predict complications, and make faster and safer decisions. Yet this same progress introduces new challenges such as alert fatigue, automation bias, and questions of equity and accountability. These realities remind us that innovation without responsible leadership can create as many risks as it resolves. 

As young leaders working across different regions and systems, we see this transformation unfolding in real time. From the rapidly digitalizing hospitals of Ghana and Oman to the data-driven reforms of Portugal and Georgia, and the visionary AI health strategies emerging in the United Arab Emirates, these experiences share one truth: technology alone cannot transform healthcare. Leadership can. 

Our reflections are grounded in the International Hospital Federation’s commitment to strengthening clinical quality and patient safety through innovative models of care. As members of the IHF Young Executive Leaders Program, we bring perspectives from both clinical practice and system governance. Through this article, we share our collective insights and recommendations on how AI can be implemented responsibly to reduce clinical risk, strengthen equity, and ensure that healthcare progress remains guided by purpose, empathy, and human connection. 

Find the full article here!

If you want to hear more about how to use AI to make patient care safer, you can also check this video.