HIMSS25 APAC Panel Explores Responsible AI Adoption in Asia-Pacific Healthcare
HIMSS25 APAC Panel Explores Responsible AI Adoption in Asia-Pacific Healthcare
Health IT leaders and experts at HIMSS25 APAC shared insights on scaling and implementing AI responsibly in the region’s healthcare sector, Health Care It News reports:
While many healthcare organisations and networks across Asia-Pacific are ready to embrace AI, leading technology specialists warn that a strong foundation is necessary before deployment at the HIMSS25 event and beyond.
Gareth Sherlock, CIO of Turimetta Consulting, highlighted at a HIMSS25 APAC panel that AI cannot be expected to solve problems instantly. “There are foundational things [organisations] need to do. You can’t just bring AI into your organisation and expect it to start solving problems,” Sherlock said.
During HIMSS25, Shamini Alagaratnam, director of healthcare research at DNV, advised a strategic approach to AI: organisations should first pinpoint their greatest challenges, determine where AI can add value, and focus on impactful solutions.
On the HIMSS25 panel, Sherlock emphasized that technology should not drive the process: “Organisations sometimes lead with the technology… You don’t lead with the technology and expect it to fix your problem.”
Eleni Dimokidis, head of healthcare technology for Amazon Web Services APAC and Japan, underlined the importance of data management: “You need to not just aggregate your data, but wrangle your data, clean your data, normalise, and classify your data.”
Dr Gao Yujia, assistant group CTO of National University Health System in Singapore, stressed the need for clinical champions in AI projects: “You need your clinical champion to understand the clinical side, as well as the research and development, the technology, the AI, the informatics, so that they can speak the common language.”
Image of the Panel Discussion Source Healthcare IT News
During the HIMSS25 panel, he added, “You need the clinician side to make sure that we stay grounded, we stay true to the core of why we’re doing all this, which essentially is because we want to make the patient journey better. If you are looking at a clinical solution, you need a clinician to drive it, and not someone who is sitting up there in the office.”
Dimokidis also noted that effective AI projects require CIOs with technical understanding of dependencies and underlying infrastructure.
Alagaratnam emphasized balancing the challenge of cost, quality, and safety: “Ideally, we would provide [solutions for] both of those simultaneously, but we do need to find a balance that works for each individual, provider, country, government, and population, and this is something that we need to agree on collectively.”
Scaling AI Across Healthcare
Panelists agreed that AI use in healthcare has advanced from isolated predictive and imaging cases to wider, real-time applications.
“AI is the new hammer in your toolkit. Everyone wants to reach for the hammer, but not every problem is a nail,” Sherlock commented.
Dr Gao pointed out that different levels of the health system have varying mandates and should have tailored strategies, cautioning against blindly pursuing every new technology trend.
With agentic AI and multimodal models expected to drive the next wave, Sherlock observed that many organisations remain cautious but acknowledged the progress of innovative ones pushing boundaries.
For those hesitant about AI, Alagaratnam recommended using secure data-sharing technologies such as federated networks: “We’re all terrified at the moment of sharing our health data, but we do have the technical [and] technological means to be able to leverage it safely and securely, for example, through federated networks, where you send algorithms to different hospitals and take the trained algorithm only away instead of the health data.”
“We need to start looking to leverage these kinds of solutions because that is the true foundation of medical knowledge,” she said.
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About HIMSS
HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) is a global non-profit organization dedicated to transforming healthcare through the power of information and technology. Founded in 1961, HIMSS brings together a diverse community of healthcare providers, IT professionals, policymakers, and technology vendors to drive innovation and improve health outcomes worldwide. Through its conferences, such as HIMSS25 APAC, industry research, and educational programs, HIMSS fosters knowledge sharing, professional development, and collaboration across the healthcare sector.
The organization advocates for best practices in digital health, data analytics, AI adoption, interoperability, cybersecurity, and patient-centered care. With members and partners in over 50 countries, HIMSS provides thought leadership, resources, and networking opportunities to help healthcare organizations leverage technology effectively and responsibly. By advancing digital transformation, HIMSS aims to improve patient safety, quality of care, and operational efficiency across the global healthcare ecosystem.
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