CHOP Focused on Leveraging AI to ‘Transformational’ Effect, Says Chief Digital & Information Officer Shakeeb Akhter

In this interview, Anthony Guerra, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of healthsystemCIO, speaks with Shakeeb Akhter, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital & Information Officer at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), about the institution’s ambitious digital transformation journey.

Leading a multifaceted team, Akhter discusses how CHOP is advancing through strategic investments in AI, automation, digital patient experience, and technology-enabled care models, all aimed at enhancing care for pediatric patients. Akhter explains how CHOP’s enterprise AI strategy is purposefully designed to drive innovation across the organization while staying agile with the rapid AI advancements. Akhter highlights the importance of financial fluency, interdisciplinary governance, and his philosophy on tackling real clinical and operational issues, rather than chasing technological trends. His approach aims at delivering meaningful outcomes for both the hospital and its patients through effective digital technology.

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Anthony: Welcome to healthsystemCIO’s interview with Shakeeb Akhter, SVP and Chief Digital & Information Officer at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. I’m Anthony Guerra, Founder and Editor-in-Chief. Shakeeb, thanks for joining me.

Shakeeb: Good morning, Anthony. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

Anthony: All right, very good. Would you start by telling me a little about your organization and your role?

Shakeeb: My role is Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Information Officer at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. We are an academic pediatric institution located in Philadelphia, with three hospitals—one that is exclusively dedicated to behavioral health, close to 700 beds, and around 50 care network sites in the region.

Anthony: All right, very good. Let’s start a little open-ended. Could you tell me what’s currently on your mind in terms of projects, initiatives, and trends? What are the top two or three things you’re working toward?

Shakeeb: Sure. Leading a large digital technology services team, our primary focus is digital transformation. We are committed to systematically and intentionally redesigning our operations through the power of technology. Within that framework, we have three key areas of focus: AI and automation, digital access and experience, and digitally enabled care models.

AI and automation leverage artificial intelligence and automation to make our work more productive and efficient, save time, improve job satisfaction, and help our team work smarter.

Digital access and experience are all about delivering seamless experiences for our patients, ensuring they can access care when and where they need it most.

And finally, digitally enabled care models focus on extending care beyond the hospital and into the home through technology like remote patient monitoring, digital stethoscopes, scales, and wearable devices. We’ve launched several home-based programs to provide children with high-quality care in the most familiar and comfortable setting they know – home.

Anthony: Does it make sense to say that AI, even though it’s a separate bucket, will play a role in the other two areas as well?

Shakeeb: Absolutely. AI requires its own specific focus, which is why we’ve set it up as a separate bucket. We’re building an enterprise AI strategy this year, and we’ve already moved forward with several AI projects over the last few years. AI is horizontal in nature and will inform the other two buckets as well, in addition to other areas like cybersecurity. So, we don’t view it as a silo; we see it as an enabler across a number of clinical and business challenges.

Anthony: You mentioned an enterprise AI strategy. What does that entail, and why is it necessary?