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Episode #
21
AMDIS: AI Governance, Strategy & Leadership Vision
AMDIS 1
In this candid roundtable, three of the nation’s top CMIOs unpack what AI governance really means in clinical environments. Dr. Amy Sitapati, Dr. Jessica Schlicher, and Dr. John Lee share real stories of promise and pitfalls—from platform evaluation to data overload to the risks of jumping in too fast. This session reveals the leadership decisions, frameworks, and cultural realities shaping how health systems adapt AI responsibly.
EPISODE GUESTS

Amy Sitapati
UC San Diego
Clinical Professor
Dr. Amy Sitapati, MD, is a prominent clinical informaticist, executive, and educator who serves as the Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) for Population Health at UC San Diego Health and the Interim Department Chair of Biomedical Informatics at UC San Diego. Board certified in both Internal Medicine and Clinical Informatics, Dr. Sitapati focuses on harmonizing academic and healthcare delivery systems using advanced electronic health records (EHR) and digital health tools to reduce health disparities and establish high-reliability care models. She has managed extensive incentive quality portfolios valued at approximately $30 million and oversaw an active population health platform covering more than 500,000 lives across various chronic disease registries. On a broader scale, Dr. Sitapati drives significant state and national health initiatives, serving as the Co-Principal Investigator for the State of California's Integrated Vital Records System (CalIVRS) and the Site Principal Investigator for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) "All of Us" Precision Medicine Research Program. Certified as an Epic Physician Builder and Lean Expert, her comprehensive leadership spans from directing medical centers and primary care clinics to leading enterprise health equity work streams, actively integrating research-driven data infrastructure with compassionate, patient-centered care delivery.

Jessica Schlicher
Providence
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Jessica Schlicher, MD, MBA, is a practicing family physician, author, and prominent digital health executive with over 14 years of experience leading clinical and operational teams. She serves as the Chief Medical Officer for Virtual Care and Digital Health at Providence, where she directs enterprise virtual services across 90 hospitals and leads a team of over 130 physicians. A graduate of the University of Washington School of Medicine, Dr. Schlicher has built a reputation as a pioneer in decentralized care systems; she co-founded CommonSpirit’s national patient-centered virtual care initiative and spearheaded the development of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health’s multispecialty virtual hospital and AI-driven mission control center. In addition to her executive duties at Providence, she advises health-tech companies like EcoMed 360, focusing on the seamless integration of ambient AI/ML tools, clinical knowledge automation, and proactive decision-support systems to reduce cognitive burden for frontline clinicians and lower patient risk across the continuum of care.

John Lee
HIT Peak Advisors
The Epic Whisperer
Dr. John Lee is a practicing emergency medicine physician, health IT executive, and specialized consultant known as the "Epic Whisperer," who bridges the gap between high-level clinical strategy and hands-on technical execution within Epic EHR ecosystems. As the Founder of HIT Peak Advisors, he leverages his unique dual background as a frontline clinician and an Epic architect to help health tech startups navigate complex integrations and assist healthcare organizations with workflow and analytics optimization. Dr. Lee's distinguished career includes nearly three decades of clinical practice at Edward Hospital, alongside extensive administrative leadership roles as the Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) for Edward-Elmhurst Health and Senior Vice President and CMIO for the Allegheny Health Network. Currently balancing his clinical duties at Edward-Elmhurst with a role as a Clinical Informatics Specialist for The MetroHealth System, he specializes in translating complex data structures like SmartData and SQL into practical, high-yield solutions that align with actual clinical realities.
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