The first of the Senate confirmation hearings on Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s candidacy as the Secretary of Health and Human Services was predictably contentious, with Democrats (and some Republicans) grilling him for his anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, among other things on Wednesday.
Aside from that, there were several instances where his lack of knowledge about federal programs he will oversee as HHS Secretary were strikingly apparent — for example, it appeared that Kennedy didn’t know that most Medicaid patients didn’t pay any premiums given the program is for low-income patients, or that Medicaid is funded by both state and local money.
A laughable lapse — though most likely no one noticed it because he said with great gusto and conviction — arose when he ascribed an innovation to one of the nation’s most revered academic medical centers: The Cleveland Clinic. It was in response to a question from Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) who asked for a commitment that Kennedy look into the closure of rural hospitals and try to alleviate the issue for people in those areas.
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Kennedy responded by saying that the challenges of rural healthcare is one among two issues that unites Democrats and Republicans, the other being pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform to rein in high drug prices. He added that President Trump has urged him to “end the hemorrhage of rural hospitals” by leveraging innovations like AI and telemedicine. Stating that would have been perfect. But then he went a step further by delving deeper into such “innovations,” as he called them.
“Cleveland Clinic has developed an AI nurse that you cannot distinguish from a human being that has diagnostics [capability] as good as any doctor,” he said, according to a livestream of the hearing. “We can provide concierge care to every American in this country even [in] those remote parts of Wyoming, Montana and Alaska, etc.”
There is only one problem.
No such AI nurse exists in the Cleveland Clinic. Here’s an emailed statement from a spokeswoman:
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“We believe that the thoughtful and safe use of AI has the potential to enhance medical care for patients. We are utilizing the technology in many areas of our health system, and while we appreciate being mentioned as an innovator, we have not developed an AI nurse as part of our efforts,” wrote Andrea Pacetti, director of media and public relations.
So what could Kennedy have meant?
It’s entirely possible that Kennedy saw Hippocratic’s AI agent in action in a phone conversation with a patient — the same thing that has gotten Rob Allen, the CEO of Intermountain Health, so excited. Hippocratic AI’s CEO, Munjal Shah, has spoken eloquently (albeit fantastically) about a world where AI nurses could dramatically alter the landscape of chronic disease management.
But Shah was very clear that he is not going down the path of AI doing diagnostics.
“In fact, we explicitly are not even going to allow people to try to use it to do diagnoses,” Shah insisted in the October 2023 interview. “I don’t think it’s safe, honestly.”
So what was RFK Jr. referring to when he said the AI nurse has diagnostics capability as good as a human? Beats me.
Then there is another question. Did the Cleveland Clinic show a demo of Hippocratic AI in action because it is piloting it or evaluating with? Pacetti, the spokeswoman wouldn’t comment on Hippocratic AI at all, but it’s entirely possible that they are aware of the technology in the same way Allen of Intermountain Health is, even though the latter hasn’t deployed it. I have it on good authority that the Mayo Clinic is also working — or will be working soon — with Hippocratic AI. The company and its AI nurse have been written about endlessly.
To get back to Kennedy, he is dangling a future not here yet to senators worried about their constituents in rural America. At least he should get his facts straight before the second round of hearings.
Watch the Senate hearing excerpt below with the email confirmation from Cleveland Clinic (slightly edited for length)