Healthcare administration is under more pressure than ever, tasked with doing more, faster, and with fewer resources. The 2025 Healthcare Administration Conference opened with two powerful sessions that tackled this head-on.
Shiyen Shu, CEO of Dream Dare Lead, challenged attendees to rethink leadership from within, offering tools to build real confidence, while Steph Ouellet, CEO of Alzheimer Society Southwest Partners, followed with an energizing deep dive into generative AI, showing how healthcare leaders can reclaim time, reduce admin burden, and spark innovation without needing to be tech experts!
Building Braver Leaders in Healthcare
Most leaders experience impostor feelings, even the high performers. leadership coach Shiyen Shu shared practical tools to help professionals manage self-doubt and grow their confidence.
One powerful tool stood out:
A simple reflection exercise:
“I forgive myself for judging myself for…”
“What’s more true is…”
This helps people let go of negative self-talk and start building a kinder, more honest view of themselves.
Photo of Shiyen Shu, Founder & CEO, Dream Dare Lead
Attendees are also suggested to use a digital tool to set small personal goals, like speaking up more or taking risks. They’ll get regular reminders by text or email to help turn those goals into daily habits.
“Nothing changes if nothing changes,” Shiyen said.
What Healthcare Leaders Can Take Away:
Confidence isn’t something you’re born with, it’s something you build, like a muscle. Through daily effort, reflection, and action, leaders can become more visible, more courageous, and more effective.
If your team is quiet in meetings or hesitant to lead, this session was a reminder: real leadership starts with believing in yourself.
Empowering Healthcare with Generative AI: Practical Uses, Real Limits
Photo of Steph Ouellet, Chief Executive Officer, Alzheimer Society Southwest Partners
Steph Ouellet, CEO at Alzheimer Society Southwest Partners, offered a hands-on overview of how healthcare leaders can adopt generative AI like ChatGPT in practical, responsible ways.
From curiosity to cautious use:
Most healthcare professionals are curious but inexperienced with AI. They’ve dabbled, often using it for jokes or poems, but lack structured support and confidence. Leaders are cautiously optimistic, asking for tools, frameworks, and practical examples.
Quick wins for busy professionals:
Steph left the room in awe by showing how ChatGPT can instantly turn survey data into charts, summarize long reports, draft policies, and create briefing notes—saving 5–6 hours per week. For example, he created a workplace AI use policy and a board-level briefing note on GenAI in real time.
Prompt engineering, made simple
He outlined a 3-part formula:
- Positioning – Tell ChatGPT who to act as and give context (e.g. your organization’s website).
- Problem – Be clear on what you want (e.g. draft, summarize, brainstorm).
- Presentation – Define output style (e.g. short, board-friendly, in plain English).
Ethics, security, and transparency matter for healthcare professionals:
Concerns around privacy, PHI, and hallucinations persist. Steph recommends:
- Use custom GPTs or enterprise tools to avoid data leaks.
- Never input identifiable patient data.
- Be transparent: share your prompt and source documents with colleagues.
What Healthcare Teams Can Take Away
Generative AI is not a threat, it’s a tool. It can reduce bureaucratic burden, speed up writing, and free up time for compassionate care. But it needs human oversight, ethical guardrails, and culture change.
“This isn’t cheating, it’s working smarter. But you still need to know what good work looks like.” – Steph Ouellet
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