Influence
October 1, 2026

Building trust in healthcare AI through data and evidence

Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH

As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms healthcare, innovation alone is not enough. Health systems need evidence that AI tools are safe, effective and improve care in the real world. 

In a new Indianapolis Business Journal op-ed, Regenstrief Institute President and CEO Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH, explains why Indiana has an opportunity to lead in this next era of healthcare innovation. 

For more than 50 years, Regenstrief has worked to improve health and healthcare through data, technology and research. That history includes pioneering the Indiana Network for Patient Care (INPC), which connects health information across hospitals, physician practices, laboratories, insurers and public health organizations. 

Today, that foundation creates an important advantage. Indiana has not only connected health data; it has developed the partnerships, governance and scientific expertise needed to responsibly turn that data into evidence. 

As AI becomes more deeply embedded in healthcare, those capabilities can help answer critical questions about whether new technologies improve outcomes, reduce costs and work effectively in real-world settings. 

“Indiana’s advantage is not simply that we already possess connected health data,” Patzer writes. “It’s that we have spent decades building the expertise, partnerships, governance and scientific rigor needed to turn data into evidence.” 

For Regenstrief, that represents a natural continuation of the vision that has guided the Institute for decades: using data and evidence to help healthcare continuously learn and improve. 

As Patzer writes in IBJ, Indiana now has an opportunity to become a national leader not only in advancing healthcare AI, but in independently evaluating its real-world impact. 

 

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