Smitha Ganeshan, MD, MBA
Assistant Professor
Smitha Ganeshan, MD, MBA is a hospitalist and Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Divisions of Hospital Medicine and Clinical Informatics and Digital Transformation at the University of California, San Francisco. As a hospitalist, she cares for patients across a range of inpatient medical services and is focused on improving care delivery, quality, and safety.
Dr. Ganeshan serves as the Medical Director for AI Programs at UCSF, where she oversees the health system’s clinical AI portfolio. In this role, she partners closely with the Chief AI Officer to define vision and strategy, evaluate and implement AI solutions, and cultivate key external partnerships. She works with cross-functional teams in IT, data science, informatics, and operations to deploy AI tools that drive value at scale while supporting safety, equity, and clinician experience.
She also serves as Strategy Lead for Informatics, leading efforts to improve physician satisfaction with the electronic health record (EHR). Her current work includes redesigning UCSF Health IT processes for prioritizing and completing user-generated enhancement requests to create a more transparent, user-centered experience. Her research focuses on the implementation and impact of AI tools on clinical outcomes, clinician experience, and health equity.
Previously, Dr. Ganeshan held roles in Digital Innovation and served as Medical Director for the Medicine Unit-Based Leadership Team across inpatient medicine units at Parnassus.
Dr. Ganeshan received her bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Georgia and her medical and business degrees from Harvard University. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at UCSF before joining the faculty at UCSF’s Parnassus campus.
Dr. Ganeshan serves as the Medical Director for AI Programs at UCSF, where she oversees the health system’s clinical AI portfolio. In this role, she partners closely with the Chief AI Officer to define vision and strategy, evaluate and implement AI solutions, and cultivate key external partnerships. She works with cross-functional teams in IT, data science, informatics, and operations to deploy AI tools that drive value at scale while supporting safety, equity, and clinician experience.
She also serves as Strategy Lead for Informatics, leading efforts to improve physician satisfaction with the electronic health record (EHR). Her current work includes redesigning UCSF Health IT processes for prioritizing and completing user-generated enhancement requests to create a more transparent, user-centered experience. Her research focuses on the implementation and impact of AI tools on clinical outcomes, clinician experience, and health equity.
Previously, Dr. Ganeshan held roles in Digital Innovation and served as Medical Director for the Medicine Unit-Based Leadership Team across inpatient medicine units at Parnassus.
Dr. Ganeshan received her bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Georgia and her medical and business degrees from Harvard University. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at UCSF before joining the faculty at UCSF’s Parnassus campus.