FSU Experts Investigate AI's Impact on Health Care

Published Date : 10/09/2025 

Florida State University experts discuss the significant impact of artificial intelligence on health care, from improving diagnostic accuracy to enhancing remote patient monitoring. 

On September 3, the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on advancing American health care through artificial intelligence. This technology, championed by organizations like the American Medical Association, is seen as a crucial tool in improving patient health outcomes, surgical precision, and diagnostic accuracy.

Florida State University (FSU) is at the forefront of this revolution, with experts like Professor Zhe He and Delaney La Rosa leading the way. Zhe He, a professor in the College of Communication and Information and director of the Institute for Successful Longevity, has conducted extensive research on AI's impact in health care. His work includes a study on AI's ability to improve differential diagnosis accuracy, personalized treatment plans, interpreting medical images, streamlining operations, and supporting remote patient monitoring.

He's research focuses on the intersection of biomedical and health informatics, artificial intelligence, and big data analytics. He is an elected fellow of the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics (IAHSI) and the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA).

“AI has already reshaped health care in tangible ways,” He said. “We now use AI to analyze electronic health records, medical images, and even predict differential diagnosis, mortality, and hospital readmissions. These tools don’t replace clinicians, but they extend their reach and help reduce diagnostic delays, personalize treatments, and improve efficiency. Importantly, AI is also opening doors to rural communities by enabling new models of remote monitoring and telehealth support.”

Delaney La Rosa, a teaching professor at the College of Nursing, is an educator and academic leader whose work bridges clinical practice, digital innovation, and equity-centered curriculum design. She is a nationally recognized researcher and speaker on the ethical application of AI in nursing and education.

“The area that AI is transforming health care most is in the preemptive area,” La Rosa said. “We’re finding out when a patient is about to decline or when a patient is about to go septic. We are looking through data across populations.”

In rural primary care clinics, where staffing is often stretched, AI tools can use data from the entire patient population to identify those most likely to develop conditions or benefit from preventive programs. This proactive approach can significantly enhance patient care and outcomes.

Media interested in learning more about the ways AI is advancing health care can reach out to Zhe He at zhe@fsu.edu and Delaney La Rosa at dwl25b@fsu.edu.

Zhe He, Professor in the College of Communication and Information and Director of the Institute for Successful Longevity

1. What other areas in health care do you feel AI can potentially change in the future?

I see three big frontiers:

- Patient engagement: Tools that help people better understand their lab results, medications, and care plans can empower them to make more informed choices.

- Aging and chronic disease management: With our aging population, AI can play a vital role in predicting risks, supporting caregivers, and promoting adherence to treatment.

- Clinical research and drug discovery: AI is accelerating trial recruitment, optimizing study design, and uncovering new therapeutic targets. Over the next decade, I think these areas will be transformed just as radiology has been over the past decade.

2. How has AI impacted the work you do?

My research focuses on making health information more accessible and actionable with informatics and AI. For example, my team is developing LabGenie, a GenAI-powered system that helps older adults and caregivers interpret lab test results and generate personalized questions for their clinicians. We are also developing AI-based systems to promote adherence to cognitive training, support post-transplant care, and identify strategies for HIV prevention and management for young adults. Across all of this work, AI is not an end in itself—it’s a means to improve patient engagement, adherence to treatment, and shared decision-making.

Delaney La Rosa, Teaching Professor, College of Nursing

1. What kinds of advancements has the College of Nursing made as it invests heavily in AI?

From my personal perspective, the biggest contribution we are making for AI is two-fold:

- Leading the nation: We are the first with a degree in health care AI for our students. We are quickly learning how to use AI and teaching our students to use it ethically, graduating workforce-ready individuals.

- Leading an AI consortium: We are hosting the Nursing and AI Innovation Consortium Launch Summit in Orlando on September 17. This summit brings together leaders from research, practice, and higher education to determine the future direction of AI in nursing.

2. How critical is the role you play in terms of AI education?

I think the most important thing is our foundational essentials course. This course gives students a solid grounding in the basics of AI, ensuring they can understand the language and assess the quality and scientific validity of AI-generated data. Nurses are great at assessing data, but they need a basic understanding of how AI works to do this effectively. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS): 

Q: What is the role of AI in health care?

A: AI in health care is used to improve diagnostic accuracy, enhance patient care, and support remote monitoring. It also helps in predicting patient outcomes and reducing diagnostic delays.

Q: Who are the FSU experts leading AI research in health care?

A: Zhe He and Delaney La Rosa are leading experts at Florida State University. Zhe He focuses on AI's impact on diagnostic accuracy and patient engagement, while Delaney La Rosa specializes in the ethical application of AI in nursing and education.

Q: How is AI transforming rural health care?

A: AI is transforming rural health care by enabling remote monitoring and telehealth support, which can help identify patients at risk of developing conditions and provide timely interventions.

Q: What advancements has the College of Nursing made in AI education?

A: The College of Nursing at FSU has developed a degree in health care AI, a microcredential program, and is leading an AI consortium to advance the ethical use of AI in nursing.

Q: What are the key areas where AI is expected to make a significant impact in the future?

A: Key areas include patient engagement, aging and chronic disease management, and clinical research and drug discovery. AI is expected to transform these areas similarly to how it has transformed radiology. 

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