If you've been to a hospital, then you're familiar with the work of
'I pretty much guarantee that anyone watching this today has been touched by a BD product,' said Polen during a
With 43,000 products used in more than 190 countries, BD-and by extension Polen-have long been on the forefront of innovations in medical technology. During Tuesday's event, Polen discussed his experience running a multinational company with Carey Business School Dean
Polen was first introduced to the medical industry at age 13, when he witnessed his 35-year-old mother suffer an unexpected, fatal brain aneurysm.
'That experience really gave me a first-hand glance at health care,' Polen said. 'At that point I really committed myself to want to make a difference in improving health care.'
Now, Polen finds himself facing all of health care's most pressing challenges, including global supply chain issues, geopolitical instability, and high costs for patients.
'To do good, we really need to make sure that our innovations are aligned with the needs of the local markets we participate in,' Polen said. 'Lower cost health care closer to where patients want to receive it. Those are big areas of investment for [BD].'
Polen also discussed the massive potential for artificial intelligence in the health care field, which he believes can help doctors with everything from counting pills to diagnosing patients. BD already sells several products that incorporate or are enabled with AI technology, including ones that can monitor narcotics abuse and identify bacteria.
'[BD is] really focused on capitalizing on the technology revolution that's happening right now. It's a tremendous opportunity,' he said. 'Getting the right diagnosis when AI is a companion to the physician, ... it's going to improve outcomes.'
From Polen's perspective, physicians spend far too much time on basic tasks like entering information into a computer. Automation could free up that time, decreasing physician burnout and giving patients more one-on-one attention from their doctors.
However, he also acknowledged that implementing new technology too quickly could be dangerous, both for the business and the consumer.
'When it comes to patients and AI, there certainly needs to be safeguards in place. That's why we don't want to rush to get AI out. We want to do it the right way,' Polen said. 'I'm really optimistic that we'll all get it figured out, and I already see a lot of great progress happening here.'
Polen is the 10th expert to participate in the
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