Chris Hutchins on Using AI to Humanize Healthcare

In this special edition of The Executive Outlook, we had the great honor of speaking with Chris Hutchins. Chris is a healthcare data and AI advisor with over 20 years of experience helping hospitals and healthcare leaders use data and technology to improve patient care. But what makes Chris’s story truly inspiring is how his deep compassion for people meets the power of advanced technology.

He has spent his career working in some of the most important parts of health systems. He has seen how hospitals operate during normal times, but also during extreme crises, like the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, Chris was leading data innovation for the largest health system in New York State, one of the hardest-hit areas in the world. The challenges were huge, and the pressure was intense. But he and his team quietly built tools that made a real difference in helping doctors, nurses, and leaders make smarter decisions faster.

What stands out about Chris is his belief that healthcare is about people first. For him, data and AI are not just about numbers and machines, they are about helping the people behind those numbers. Whether it’s a doctor working late at night, a nurse caring for a frightened patient, or a hospital trying to manage scarce resources, he sees technology as a way to support their important work.

Chris’s journey to becoming a healthcare data advisor didn’t start in a university or a fancy office. It began in the basement of a hospital where his mother worked. This was long before computers and digital records were common. Instead, hospitals kept stacks of X-ray films, big sheets of pictures showing bones and organs. He was a young boy and spent many weekends and school breaks helping his mother sort and file those films.

He remembers walking through hospital corridors, watching doctors rush by, sometimes looking tired or worried. But when those doctors met a patient, their expressions softened, and they gave that person their full attention. Those early experiences taught Chris something he never forgot; healthcare is about caring for people.

Even though he knew he didn’t have the stomach for working in an emergency room or treating patients directly, he wanted to help in a way that suited him. That’s when he found his calling in data and technology, using computers and numbers to support caregivers in doing their best work.

Years later, he found himself working in New York City for the largest health system in the state. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It was a frightening and chaotic time. Hospitals were overwhelmed with patients, turning conference rooms into emergency care units to handle the flood. Every hour brought new challenges.

But before the pandemic, he and his team had quietly developed a tool called the “Currently Admitted Patient Index.” This tool collected live updates from 21 hospitals, showing who was admitted, how sick they were, and important parts of their medical history. Though it wasn’t designed for a pandemic, it became one of the most important tools during the crisis.

Using this tool, hospital leaders could see where patients were, what resources were needed, and how to move staff and equipment like ventilators wisely. This helped them plan ahead and respond quickly. He said it wasn’t just the technology that made this tool powerful—it was the way people from different teams worked together with one goal. “Data only becomes meaningful when it brings people together to act,” he said.

Chris also told us about a mistake many organizations make. They build dashboards or tools without asking, “What problem are we trying to solve?” Sometimes, they build something just because they can, not because it helps. Chris said the best way to make data useful is to start by listening to the people who do the work every day. Talk to doctors and nurses. Ask what slows them down or frustrates them. Real solutions come from these conversations, not just from writing computer code.

One thing Chris is very passionate about is helping doctors spend less time typing notes on computers. In the past, doctors would speak their notes aloud, and a transcriptionist would type them out. Now, many doctors do the typing themselves, which takes time away from patients. Chris believes new AI tools, called “ambient listening,” can help by recording the conversation between doctor and patient and turning it into notes. This gives doctors a head start on their paperwork so they can focus more on people.

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He also sees AI helping automate other rule-based tasks, like billing and insurance claims, freeing caregivers to spend more time with patients. He believes AI has many exciting possibilities, from helping with medical imaging to automating hospital systems. But he always reminds us to be careful and kind when using new technology.

His biggest concern isn’t that AI will become too powerful, but that it might be built without understanding the people it’s supposed to help. Bias can sneak into AI when it’s trained on wrong or incomplete data or when developers don’t listen to diverse voices. That’s why Chris believes it’s important to stay close to the real experiences of healthcare workers and patients. “We need to listen more than we build,” he says.

Chris also shared how the pandemic affected him personally. Living in New York during lockdown, he, like many others, felt very isolated and lonely. Later, at a retreat in California, he realized how much that isolation had affected his mental health. This made him remember that technology should bring people closer, not push them apart. Human connection is at the heart of healthcare.

He told us a story about how he recently used AI tools like ChatGPT to help with his own writing. He uploaded more than 10 years of his work articles, presentations, and notes and asked the AI to suggest new article ideas. To his surprise, the AI connected stories and ideas from long ago that he had forgotten. It helped him see his past work in a new way and made his current work stronger. For Chris, AI is not about replacing humans but about helping us understand ourselves better and work smarter.

Chris Hutchins is more than just a data expert. He is a leader, a listener, and a guide who believes even the most advanced technology should be used with kindness and care. His story shows us that data isn’t just numbers; it’s about people’s lives and how smart tools can make those lives better.

If you want to hear more inspiring stories like Chris’s, click here to explore other leaders who are shaping the future with heart and purpose.