SUMMARY
Svetlana Herasevich, M.D., M.S., is a physician-scientist specializing in health information technology (HIT) evaluation and implementation science in acute and critical care environments. Her research focuses on the rigorous assessment of digital clinical systems, electronic health record (EHR)-based tools and emerging artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technologies — such as large language models (LLMs) and vision-language models (VLMs) — to ensure their safe, effective and measurable integration into patient care.
Her work emphasizes outcomes-oriented evaluation of digital interventions in hospital settings. She has led and contributed to peer-reviewed studies examining the impact of HIT on patient outcomes and care processes in these environments. This work includes evaluation of the effects of digital systems for early detection of patient deterioration on patient-centered outcomes, including mortality and hospital length of stay. She has conducted randomized crossover studies of decision support systems demonstrating measurable differences in clinician task performance and perceived cognitive workload.
Dr. Herasevich applies structured evaluation methodologies, including controlled experimental studies, usability testing, workflow analysis and quantitative performance measurement, to determine how digital systems function in real-world clinical settings. Building on established HIT evaluation principles, her work also advances methodological frameworks for evaluating the newest AI-based clinical tools including LLMs and VLMs, with focus on structured performance assessment and reliability and safety considerations. Through this body of work, Dr. Herasevich contributes to advancing rigorous, outcomes-oriented standards for the evaluation and implementation of digital health technologies within complex hospital systems.
Focus areas
- EHR optimization. Dr. Herasevich conducts comparative evaluations of enhanced digital environments versus standard EHR interfaces, focusing on usability, performance metrics, clinician cognitive load and workflow efficiency in high‑acuity settings.
- Implementation science in acute and critical care. Dr. Herasevich applies implementation frameworks and pragmatic methodologies to support the successful adoption, scalability and long‑term sustainability of digital tools in hospital and ICU environments.
- HIT implementation strategies informed by behavioral and marketing principles. Dr. Herasevich develops and evaluates engagement strategies informed by behavioral science, user experience research and strategic communication to enhance clinician adoption and sustained use of digital systems.
- LLM and VLM evaluation. Dr. Herasevich performs rigorous evaluations of emerging AI tools, including LLMs and VLMs, within clinical environments. Her work focuses on safety, reliability, bias assessment, clinical validity, workflow integration and the development of structured prompting strategies to optimize performance in real-world healthcare settings.
Significance to patient care
Dr. Herasevich's research helps ensure that the digital tools used in healthcare settings — such as electronic records and new AI technologies — are safe, reliable and helpful for both patients and clinicians. She studies how to bring these tools into everyday medical practice in a way that works for the people using them.
Her studies show that when digital systems are designed well and supported properly, they can help care teams stay aware of important patient changes, reduce unnecessary delays and make it easier for clinicians to make timely, informed decisions. This ultimately leads to safer hospital care and better outcomes for patients.