AI is good at catching drug theft at hospitals, but only when humans do their part At some hospitals, AI surveillance flagged suspicious patterns but pharmacists failed to act on the alerts

https://www.statnews.com/2026/08/25/ai-drug-diversion-software-human-oversight-controlcheck-sentri7/ By Alexandra ByrneAug. 25, 2026 Can AI surveillance catch hospital drug theft? Anyone who has ever seen a medical drama knows about drug diversion — when hospital staff skim from or steal a medication that was meant for a patient. “There is diversion going on everywhere,” said Chris Fortier, who previously served as the chief pharmacy officer at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Whether it’s large, whether it’s small, it’s happening. And it’s very, very difficult to identify.” But machine learning and AI can capture drug diversion by hospital staff at much higher rates than traditional, manual methods, according to a study from the firm Invistics, which has developed its own detection system. Outside experts aren’t so sure and caution that the technology is only as effective as the people using it. Read more from STAT contributor Alexandra Byrne about how well these programs work in reality.