Dr. Jacqueline Naeem, vice president of clinical and social health at Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation
Photo courtesy of Dr. Jacqueline Naeem
Dr. Jacqueline Naeem, vice president of clinical and social health at Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation, tells MobiHealthNews about her upcoming talk at the 2026 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition in March, where she'll discuss how the Dallas-based nonprofit health innovation and research organization affiliated with Parkland Health and Hospital System uses an EHR-integrated AI model to identify patients at risk of violent behavior.
MobiHealthNews: You are highlighting Parkland Health's approach to mitigating workplace violence in inpatient settings. Can you tell us a little more about your talk?
Dr. Jacqueline Naeem: We are discussing a mission-critical challenge facing every healthcare system: the rising tide of workplace violence in healthcare. Our presentation isn't just about a technical achievement in AI; it is about how we at Parkland Health and PCCI have reimagined staff safety as a data-driven clinical priority.
For too long, hospitals have treated patient aggression as an "occupational hazard" – something to be reacted to with security calls after the fact. We are shifting that paradigm. We will share how our EHR-integrated AI model filters out low-risk patient profiles, enabling clinical teams to focus their proactive safety resources exclusively on individuals with a high probability of violent events. This allows us to move from a culture of reaction to a culture of situational compassion, de-escalation and prevention.
MHN: How prevalent is workplace violence in the healthcare space?
Naeem: The data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and various nursing associations show a terrifying trend. Healthcare workers are five times more likely to experience a workplace violence injury than workers in any other industry. In fact, healthcare accounts for nearly 75% of all nonfatal workplace injuries. The concern isn't just about the physical harm; it's about the psychological toll that leads to mass departures from the profession.
MHN: What do you hope attendees get from your talk?
Naeem: We hope to provide attendees with a framework for how they can use the data already sitting in their EHR to protect their most valuable asset: the frontline workforce.
Dr. Jacqueline Naeem's session "Integrating Data-Driven Workflows to Prevent Workplace Violence" is scheduled for Tuesday, March 10, from 10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m., in Palazzo C I Level 5 at HIMSS26 in Las Vegas.
