This afternoon, The Health Innovation Alliance held a policy briefing, Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: What Does the Future Hold?, on Capitol Hill.
Congressman Jay Obernolte (R-CA-23) kicked off the briefing. He noted the difficult task Congress has to lead on AI, and that several agencies, such as the FDA, have already developed expertise in regulating AI-enabled technologies.
The rest of the event was a discussion between expert panelists:
- Paul J. Helmuth, M.D., Physician Clinical Executive, Elsevier
- Leslie Ritter, Vice President, Healthcare Access, National MS Society
- Joe Ganley, Vice President, Government & Regulatory Affairs, athenahealth
- Ben Moscovitch, Senior Manager, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Americas, AWS Public Policy, Amazon Web Services
Panelists covered a great variety of topics, highlighting AI tools their organizations have already deployed at various points in the healthcare system, the attitudes of providers and patients towards AI technologies, and how the government can be engaged to ensure safety and promote innovation.
In addition, HIA Executive Director Brett Meeks highlighted the coalition’s new principles for the regulation of AI in health care and life sciences. The document is intended to guide Congress and the Administration and focuses exclusively on health care. The principles are concentrated on:
- Risk-based approach – Regulation of AI in health care should be proportionate to risk
- Transparency – Patients, users, and regulators of AI should have access to information about how the technology is being used, but not to proprietary information
- Privacy – Any use of health information by AI should be compliant with current laws and regulations, including HIPAA
- Responsibility – Developers and users of AI programs in health care should adopt and adhere to best practices and processes
- Equity – AI tools should mitigate bias and be available for all users, not just those who can afford it