Healthcare organizations rushing to deploy artificial intelligence must not forget that garbage in means garbage out, regardless of how fast the AI runs, according to the data governance director at St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center.
Troy Heninger, who leads data governance and data quality at the Idaho health system, warned that robust data management is essential to earning clinicians’ trust in AI tools. Speaking at a July 20 Healthcare IT News event, Heninger said that deploying AI on top of poorly governed data compounds existing problems rather than solving them.
“Bad data at AI speed is still bad data,” Heninger said. He urged health systems to invest in data quality programs before layering on AI tools for clinical decision support, revenue cycle management, or operational efficiency.
The warning comes as hospitals across the country accelerate AI adoption in clinical workflows, often without corresponding investments in data infrastructure and governance. Heninger emphasized that data governance must be a prerequisite, not an afterthought, for any health system pursuing AI transformation.
