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How AI Earns Its
Place in Healthcare

What We Learned from SoCal Bio 2025

A gray banner featuring the SOCAL BIO logo on the left and a red square with a white circle and red triangle inside it on the right.

What we learned from socalbio 2025

How AI Earns Its Place in Healthcare

Panel insights from Ravi Sawhney and fellow leaders on designing AI for real-world clinical impact.

At the 27th Annual Southern California Biomedical Council (SoCalBio) Investor & Partnering Conference, RKS Design Founder & CEO Ravi Sawhney moderated a panel tackling one of healthcare’s biggest questions:

How can AI actually improve patient care—from diagnosis to recovery—and what stands in the way of adoption?

Titled “The Role of AI in Driving Better Patient Outcomes from Diagnosis to Recovery,” the session brought together leaders from NeuraSignal, Avenda Health, DigitalDx Ventures, Johnson & Johnson, and RKS Design for a forward-looking conversation on design, integration, and impact.

AI Only Matters When It Fits

One message echoed clearly: AI has to work for the people using it.

As Ravi shared during the panel, “AI only matters when it makes care easier. If it cuts the busywork for doctors, they’ll use it—if it adds to it, they won’t.” In other words, innovation without usability doesn’t get adopted.
The panelists agreed that workflow fit is where clinical AI must start. That means tools designed to reduce clicks, lower cognitive load, and disappear into existing processes—so clinicians can focus on patients, not dashboards.
A healthcare professional in a white coat and stethoscope uses a stylus on a digital tablet, illustrating how SoCalBio 2025 brings biotech insights to modern patient care, with blurred medical equipment and a patient in the background.

Start with Design. Think Through Reimbursement.

NeuraSignal’s Robert Hamilton emphasized that sometimes, simplifying AI is what drives adoption. “It’s not about showing everything the tech can do—it’s about helping people actually use it,” he noted.

But usability isn’t the only hurdle. As Michele Colucci of DigitalDx Ventures pointed out, reimbursement is often the invisible wall blocking progress. Legacy technologies are already embedded into payment structures, making it hard for newer, more effective tools to compete—unless reimbursement is planned from the start.

Key Takeaways from the Panel

The panelists outlined a pragmatic roadmap for AI in healthcare:
  • Design for workflow first. Don’t expect adoption if it adds complexity.
  • Simplify, don’t overwhelm. Clarity builds trust—and trust drives use.
  • Build for reimbursement as early as usability. Payment drives scale.
  • Think globally, act locally. U.S. regulatory and billing challenges are unique.
  • Make patient monitoring actionable. Not all data needs to be streamed—alerts need thresholds.
  • Trust depends on transparency. Diverse data sets, published outcomes, and understandable updates help earn it.
  • Standardization is key. Interoperability and shared metrics help health systems compare and adopt confidently.
A panel of five speakers sits onstage at the 27th SoCalBio Investor & Partnership Conference, discussing “Medtech Panel—The Role of AI in Driving Better Patient Outcomes from Diagnosis to Recovery” and its impact on the life sciences sector.

What’s Next for AI in Healthcare?

Despite the challenges, the panel’s tone was optimistic. AI won’t replace the human side of healthcare—but it can help bring it back. By automating documentation, simplifying triage, and improving early-stage detection, AI has the potential to let clinicians spend more time being present with patients.

As Ravi summarized in closing, “When smart design, solid proof, and insurance coverage line up, patients feel it: faster appointments, clearer next steps, and better results.”

Meet the Panel

Five professionals are shown in a black-and-white group photo, each facing forward. Below them are logos for RKS Design, DigitalDx Ventures, NeuraSignal, Avenda Health, and Johnson & Johnson—highlighting their roles at the SoCalBio 2025 biotechnology conference.

Moderated by RKS Design Founder & CEO Ravi Sawhney, the SoCalBio 2025 medtech panel brought together a diverse group of leaders shaping the future of AI in healthcare—from diagnostics and therapeutics to venture capital and global strategy.

Michele Colucci: Founder & Managing Partner, DigitalDx Ventures

An investor and entrepreneur focused on data-driven diagnostics, Michele leads DigitalDx Ventures in backing early-stage companies that are redefining detection, treatment, and precision care. She brings deep legal, policy, and investment experience to the intersection of AI and healthcare.

Robert Hamilton: Founder & CEO, NeuraSignal

A biomedical engineer and AI innovator, Robert holds over 100 patents and publications in neurovascular monitoring and stroke diagnostics. At NeuraSignal, he’s developing cutting-edge signal processing tools to support earlier, more accurate interventions for brain health.

Shyam Natarajan, PhD: Co-Founder & CEO, Avenda Health

Shyam leads Avenda Health, a company pioneering AI-guided, focal therapy for prostate cancer. With a background in biomedical engineering and research, he focuses on improving clinical workflows and preserving quality of life through personalized treatment solutions.

Devavrat Bapat: Senior Director, R&D, Johnson & Johnson MedTech

Devavrat brings global product development and digital health expertise from one of the world’s largest medtech companies. His focus includes integrating AI into clinical training, regulatory workflows, and early-stage detection—helping drive scalable innovation within highly complex systems.

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