Mercy’s industry-leading work in data and artificial intelligence has placed Byron Yount, PhD, chief data and AI officer and vice president of transformation operations, in good company with two prestigious organizations – the Gartner Research Board and Artificial Intelligence 150 (AI150) by Constellation Research. Both groups recognize innovative leadership from around the world in the fast-growing area of AI.
Yount first joined the St. Louis-based health system in 2014 and has served in his current role since September 2023. He has been instrumental in Mercy’s development and use of AI to improve patient care by tapping into more than a decade of de-identified data in electronic health records. He has also been key in the collaboration with Mayo Clinic, as Mercy became the first health system to join the Mayo Clinic Platform_Connect.
The Gartner Research Board (GRB) brings together the most influential business leaders into a global forum in which members can test their thinking, gain a comprehensive view of the future and accelerate their impact. Mercy’s Yount is now one of many representing large-scale organizations that are part of this exclusive board, which are comprised of Fortune 500 organizations leading their respected industries.
The 2024 Constellation Research AI150 is an elite list of executives leading AI transformation efforts around the globe. In the inaugural year for the list, nominations from peers, industry influencers, technology vendors and analysts were included in a six-month selection process. Each executive on the list demonstrates an understanding of how the business environment is transforming in response to digital and exponential technologies –technologies that double in capability or performance over a short period of time – and are actively preparing their companies to excel during and after the transformation.
“It’s humbling to be listed among the luminaries and leading voices in AI from around the world, and a testament to Mercy’s long commitment to digital innovation,” Yount said. “AI is becoming increasingly common, vital and advanced for all industries. I’m proud to work with a world-class team dedicated to harnessing its power to create a meaningful, equitable impact for our patients and care teams.”
“This rapidly evolving field has pioneers, policy shapers and practitioners that will transform industries,” noted R “Ray” Wang, founder and CEO at Constellation Research. “The AI150 is our attempt of identifying a small slice of the innovators and change agents who are making substantial contributions to the advancement of this revolution.”
Mercy is a founding member of Coalition for Health AI (CHAI), an organization whose mission is to be the trusted source of guidelines for responsible AI in health. Yount worked with other CHAI members to draft an AI Assurance Standards Guide, recently released, which provides considerations to ensure standards are met in the deployment of AI in health care.
Mercy, one of the 20 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health, serves millions annually with nationally recognized care and one of the nation’s largest and highest performing Accountable Care Organizations in quality and cost. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state health care system including more than 50 acute care and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has over 900 physician practice locations and outpatient facilities, more than 4,500 physicians and advanced practitioners and 50,000 co-workers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In fiscal year 2023 alone, Mercy provided more than half a billion dollars of free care and other community benefits, including traditional charity care and unreimbursed Medicaid.
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