Built Without Us: Physician Led AI Governance

The leading cause of preventable death in a hospital is supposed to be sepsis. What if it’s actually governance the fear and politics that keep good technology out for years? This week on Signal & Symptoms, Dr. Junaid Kalia and co-hosts Ed Marx, DR GPT™ Harvey Castro, and Dr. Isha Mannering (now officially on the roster) are joined by Dr. Ryan Walsh, Chief Medical Information Officer at Memorial Hermann the “Forrest Gump of health IT” and a proud “human + machine” physician. It’s a working clinician’s field guide to living with AI: how to de-risk it, why residents trust an AI summary inside Epic more than an outside source (and why that’s dangerous), the medico-legal reality that law is being outpaced by the technology, and what a physician-led clinical AI governance council actually does. The throughline: too much health tech gets built for us and deployed without us and the fix is getting physicians into the room. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 “Nothing is foolproof” + the EHR-trust trap 00:21 Meet Dr. Ryan Walsh (CMIO, Memorial Hermann) 00:57 The “Forrest Gump of health IT” origin story 02:03 What excites a CMIO now 03:23 AI as a thinking partner 04:42 “All technology is deflationary” 05:02 How to de-risk AI as a clinician 06:29 Do residents trust AI? The EHR-summary surprise 07:43 Fear, soul, and choosing love over 150 years of tech 08:13 The bridge: balance, not sides 08:42 Med-legal reality + the clinical AI governance council 09:29 “The real leading cause of preventable death? Governance.” 10:07 Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater 🔗 Referenced in the show • Dr. Ryan Walsh — CMIO, Memorial Hermann · “human + machine” • Clinical AI governance council · AI summaries in the EHR (Epic) automation bias • 21st Century Cures Act era of health data 🎙️ Special guest Dr. Ryan Walsh — Chief Medical Information Officer, Memorial Hermann Health System LinkedIn —   / ryanwalshmd   👥 Your hosts Dr. Junaid Kalia — Neurocritical Care Specialist, Founder of SaveLife.AI™ (host) LinkedIn —   / junaidkaliamd   Website — https://www.junaidkalia.com/ Edward Marx — CEO, Advisor (co-host) LinkedIn —   / edwardmarx   DR GPT™ Harvey Castro — ER Physician, #DrGPT™ (co-host) LinkedIn —   / harveycastromd   Dr. Isha Mannering — (co-host) LinkedIn —   / isha-mannering   🌐 Signal & Symptoms — https://signalandsymptoms.com/ 📩 Healthcare AI advisory insights, at zero cost — https://junaidkaliamd.substack.com/ Medical disclaimer: This conversation is for general informational purposes and is not medical advice. Views expressed by the guest and co-hosts are their own and do not represent their employers. AI tools discussed are decision-support with a clinician in the loop — not autonomous or cleared diagnostic devices. No PHI is shared. #healthcareai #aigovernance #clinicalai #healthit #physicianleadership