Steve Miff, President & CEO, Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI)

Invest: sat down with Steve Miff, president and CEO of Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation, to discuss PCCI’s achievements in leveraging AI and data-driven solutions to address healthcare challenges for underserved populations.

Could you reflect on the past year and share some of PCI’s most significant achievements and highlights in North Texas?

We focus our work on healthcare innovation, specifically driving innovation to build scalable solutions that leverage advancements in AI and machine learning. These solutions are applied to medicine and social determinants of health, which include factors influencing health outcomes both directly and indirectly. Our emphasis is on serving vulnerable and underserved populations, particularly those who are uninsured, underinsured, or face complex medical challenges combined with life circumstances that make self-care difficult.

Over the past 12 months, several milestones have stood out. We’ve been recognized nationally for our contributions to the AI life cycle and for the deployment of AI solutions in clinical practice. For example, we’ve participated in key committees like the National Academy of Medicine’s AI Adoption and Code of Conduct Committee, helping shape ethical and effective recommendations for healthcare AI use. Additionally, we’ve collaborated with the White House AI Committee, engaging in monthly discussions with representatives from NIST and various government agencies to share best practices and contribute to national policy. Another notable achievement is our involvement with the Health AI Partnership, a collaboration founded by Duke University with partners like Mayo and Berkeley. This partnership focuses on sharing knowledge about ethical, equitable and responsible AI adoption and supporting organizations earlier in their journey toward implementing AI responsibly.

A major focus this year has been the expansion of our Community Vulnerability Compass (CVC), a novel data modeling and dashboard tool that provides hyper-localized insights into community health needs. This tool now covers every county, ZIP code, census tract, and block in Texas, using 26 indicators to aggregate health indices. It’s being actively used by nearly two dozen organizations to foster collaboration among healthcare providers, insurance companies, county health departments, philanthropic organizations, and community-based groups. A key partnership with United Way of Metropolitan Dallas highlights this effort. Over a six-year engagement, we’re supporting their ASPIRE 2030 goals while enhancing community data capacity. This involves training over 200 community-based organizations in effectively using data, fostering collaboration, and prioritizing resources, which empowers them to become champions of data in their communities and amplify their impact locally.

Another achievement is our collaboration with University Health in San Antonio, where we tailored our data infrastructure to support their renowned transplant program. By integrating healthcare data with community vulnerability data, we’ve enhanced their ability to deliver high-quality care and leading research while addressing access and community-specific challenges. This effort has strengthened their position as one of the nation’s top transplant programs by providing them with even more actionable insights.

What are some broader trends in healthcare innovation and in which areas will these technologies be especially impactful?

AI is transforming patient care, and its impact is already being felt. However, responsible, ethical, and transparent implementation is critical. This requires specialized expertise, robust infrastructure, and a comprehensive life cycle approach. The challenge is that organizations serving the most vulnerable, such as public hospitals, care management organizations, federal qualified health centers, and public health departments, often lack the resources to adopt and sustain these technologies. This disparity risks widening the gap between well-funded health systems and those serving vulnerable populations.  We’re exclusively focusing on these segments and have proven that these organizations not only can integrate AI effectively into their processes to augment their care, but can be beacons of innovation in this space.

One significant trend is the personalization and hyper-localization of care. AI-driven tools can empower patients by providing tailored insights, removing barriers to access, and fostering better engagement. For example, in our pediatric asthma program, predictive models identify children at the highest risk, enabling providers to act proactively. This program integrates alerts into electronic medical records, prioritizes outreach for high-risk cases, facilitates home visits to assess environmental triggers, and employs custom text-based communication directly to families. These efforts collectively reduce emergency visits and improve disease management. 

This year, the program received national recognition. We were one of only five organizations to receive an AIM-HI Grant from Kaiser Permanente to expand pediatric asthma care to smaller organizations. In October, we were also invited to present this program in the U.S. Capitol alongside Kaiser Permanente, sharing our work with members of Congress and Senate staff, and several federal agencies. It was rewarding to see our efforts acknowledged at such a high level.

Could you elaborate on how the Sachs Summer program for advancing women in data science supports a diverse healthcare and technology workforce?

Empowering a diverse workforce has been a long-standing priority for us. Women remain underrepresented in AI, machine learning, and tech roles, so we designed the Sachs Summer program to address this gap. For over five years, this program has provided an immersive, hands-on internship where young women work alongside our data scientists and clinicians on real-world projects. Over a 10- to 12-week period, they not only contribute to meaningful work but also build skills that advance their careers.

The program has had a profound impact. Participants have gone on to join prestigious programs and secure roles they may not have considered without this experience. This initiative is about more than technical training; it’s about creating opportunities and fostering confidence in underrepresented groups. We believe that similar programs, if adopted widely, could have a far-reaching impact across industries.

What is your outlook for PCCI’s future, and what are your top priorities for the next few years?

Our primary goal is to scale our successes nationally. We aim to expand the Community Vulnerability Compass to model every block in the United States, adding new functionalities to enhance its relevance and usability. This effort will create a connected framework that advances health equity and supports underserved communities across the country.

We also plan to expand our AI initiatives to bring more organizations into collaborative networks. By sharing expertise, data and resources, we can accelerate the adoption of impactful innovations for vulnerable populations. Our focus remains on staying true to our mission while broadening our reach and amplifying our impact.