Reporters’ Notebook: RISE National 2025, by the Numbers

Mar 20
Mar 20, 2025

From engaging with patients and scheduling appointments to assisting with chart reviews and predicting fall risk, artificial intelligence can serve a wide range of purposes in Medicare Advantage and will play an increasingly important role in health care delivery overall. That was a prevailing theme at the RISE National 2025 conference, held March 11-14 in San Antonio, Texas, and it was echoed by CMS Administrator nominee Mehmet Oz, M.D., who touted the potential for AI to “optimize care” and reduce fraud, waste and abuse during his March 14 Senate confirmation hearing.

“We’re towards the peak of AI hype,” declared RISE keynote speaker Robby Sikka, M.D., an anesthesiologist and technology innovator who helps sports teams predict athletes’ potential for injuries and anticipate their medical needs. “There’s a lot of data analytics companies and AI companies that I saw downstairs in your vendor show.…There’s a lot of really amazing things that are happening, but it’s going to take time for those companies to evolve and really permeate and make a difference.”
Read more
© 2024 MMIT

Lauren Flynn Kelly

Lauren has been covering health business issues since the early 2000s and specializes in in-depth reporting on Medicare Advantage, managed Medicaid and Medicare Part D. She also possesses a deep understanding of the complex world of pharmacy benefit management, having written AIS Health’s Radar on Drug Benefits from 2004 to 2005 and again from 2011 to 2016. In addition to her role as managing editor of Radar on Medicare Advantage, she oversees AIS Health’s publications and manages the health editorial staff. She graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in English.

Carina Belles

Carina has been covering public-sector health care since 2018. As a data reporter for Radar on Medicare Advantage, she creates infographics and data stories on issues impacting Medicare, Medicaid and Part D. She also develops AIS Health Daily, a free daily newsletter that showcases AIS’s strong reporting across our four publications and parent company Norstella’s suite of market access and data solutions. Prior to joining the editorial team, she managed Medicare and Medicaid data for the Directory of Health Plans, AIS’s industry-standard health coverage database. She graduated from Ohio University with a B.S. in Journalism.