AI Clinical Trial Screening: Evidence, Recruitment and Workflow with Dr. AJ Blood
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Transcript intelligence
What OpenRounds heard
Source-grounded signals extracted from the episode transcript. Timestamps and supporting excerpts appear when available.
The speaker reports that their JAMA-published study showed an 84% increase in clinical trial enrollment using their AI tool, with a p-value of 0.04.
The speaker reports that the RECTIFIER tool is designed with a human-in-the-loop requirement, where AI surfaces eligibility evidence but final decisions are made by clinical study staff, ensuring no autonomous medical decision-making.
“Dr. AJ Blood: 18:48 a Decision on eligibility or ineligibility was made by the artificial intelligence model. And for really importantly, for each and every one of those decisions, Chris Hutchins: 18:54 Yep. Dr. AJ Blood: 18:57 these are all human in a loop, right? So there is never an autonomous AI process where we're letting the model run wild to make decisions or medical decision or even give medical advice in any way, shape or form. This is surfacing and sourcing relevant information to a protocol question about a clinical trial and allowing that clinical study staff to confirm or deny”
The speaker reports that unstructured data in electronic health records often hides critical patient history needed to determine eligibility for medications or procedures.
Send us Fan Mail (https://www.buzzsprout.com/2550733/fan_mail/new) Clinical trial recruitment starts with finding eligible patients, but the work does not end with a match. Cardiologist and AIwithCare co-founder Dr. AJ Blood joins Chris Hutchins to discuss AI-assisted clinical trial screening, the supporting research and the workflow around it. They examine AI chart review, RECTIFIER, studies in NEJM AI and JAMA, access to trials, bias monitoring and implementation across sites. AJ explains why research staff and frontline clinicians need to be involved in design, and why a pilot needs clear measures before it starts. The JAMA study discussed was a single-center heart-failure trial with time to eligibility determination as its primary outcome; enrollment was exploratory. The episode considers what that evidence supports, what still needs validation and how to evaluate useful change without relying on promises. IN THIS CONVERSATION - AI chart review and eligibility screening for clinical trials - What the NEJM AI and JAMA studies measured - Patient access and the difference between screening and enrollment - Bias monitoring and validation across research sites - Workflow adoption, frontline design and measurable AI pilots CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome and episode introduction 00:19 Evidence over promises 00:41 From clinical research to implementation 03:42 Why effective care struggles to reach patients 09:04 AI-assisted chart review 12:28 Who gets access to clinical trials? 16:55 Building and testing the screening tool 23:10 What the evidence shows 27:35 Faster enrollment and shorter timelines 30:51 Monitoring bias across sites 34:57 Workflow determines adoption 42:41 Set clear measures for a pilot 47:25 Design beside the people doing the work 51:46 Connect with AJ GUEST & RESOURCES AIwithCare: https://aiwithcare.com/ AJ Blood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-blood-md-msc-facc-abom-a8654a23/ 2025 JAMA randomized prescreening study: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2830514 2024 NEJM AI study: https://ai.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/AIoa2400181 THE SIGNAL ROOM Hosted by Chris Hutchins https://signalroompodcast.com/ Support the show (https://www.buzzsprout.com/2550733/support) About The Signal Room: The Signal Room is a podcast and communications platform exploring leadership, ethics, and innovation in healthcare and artificial intelligence. Hosted by Christopher Hutchins, Founder and CEO of Hutchins Data Strategy Consultants. Leadership, ethics, and innovation, amplified. Website: https://www.hutchinsdatastrategy.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chutchins-healthcare/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisHutchinsAi Book Chris to speak: https://www.chrisjhutchins.com/
Show transcript excerpt
Send us Fan MailClinical trial recruitment starts with finding eligible patients, but the work does not end with a match. Cardiologist and AIwithCare co-founder Dr. AJ Blood joins Chris Hutchins to discuss AI-assisted clinical trial screening, the supporting research and the workflow around it.They examine AI chart review, RECTIFIER, studies in NEJM AI and JAMA, access to trials, bias monitoring and implementation across sites. AJ explains why research staff and frontline clinicians need to be involved in design, and why a pilot needs clear measures before it starts.The JAMA study discussed was a single-center heart-failure trial with time to eligibility determination as its primary outcome; enrollment was exploratory. The episode considers what that evidence supports, what still needs validation and how to evaluate useful change without relying on promises.IN THIS CONVERSATION- AI chart review and eligibility screening for clinical trials- What the NEJM AI and JAMA studies measured- Patient access and the difference between screening and enrollment- Bias monitoring and validation across research sites- Workflow adoption, frontline design and measurable AI pilotsCHAPTERS00:00 Welcome and episode introduction00:19 Evidence over promises00:41 From clinical research to implementation03:42 Why effective care struggles to reach patients09:04 AI-assisted chart review12:28 Who gets access to clinical trials?16:55 Building and testing the screening tool23:10 What the evidence shows27:35 Faster enrollment and shorter timelines30:51 Monitoring bias across sites34:57 Workflow determines adoption42:41 Set clear measures for a pilot47:25 Design beside the people doing the work51:46 Connect with AJGUEST & RESOURCESAIwithCare: https://aiwithcare.com/AJ Blood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-blood-md-msc-facc-abom-a8654a23/2025 JAMA randomized prescreening study: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/28305142024 NEJM AI study: https://ai.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/AIoa2400181THE SIGNAL ROOMHosted by Chris Hutchinshttps://signalroompodcast.com/Support the showAbout The Signal Room: The Signal Room is a podcast and communications platform exploring leadership, ethics, and innovation in healthcare and artificial intelligence. Hosted by Christopher Hutchins, Founder and CEO of Hutchins Data Strategy Consultants. Leadership, ethics, and innovation, amplified.Website: https://www.hutchinsdatastrategy.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chutchins-healthcare/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisHutchinsAiBook Chris to speak: https://www.chrisjhutchins.com
Daily healthcare AI brief
Get the free healthcare AI briefing
One concise briefing built from reporting, research, policy, blogs, videos, and full podcast transcripts.
Free. Get a sign-in link by email to finish subscribing. An account is created if needed. Unsubscribe anytime. Already subscribed? Sign in to save and personalize.