ACR Introduces New AI Quality Assurance Program for Radiology Practices
The ACR Accredited Center for Healthcare AIlaunched last week by the American College of Radiology, is being touted as a first-of-its-kind quality assurance program for radiology facilities looking to leverage artificial intelligence in their imaging workflows.
WHY IT MATTERS
As radiology practices work toward and attest to the program’s compliance goals, participating in ARCH-AI can help them implement safer and more effective AI products and help radiologists provide better patient care, ACR said. The organization lists recognition criteria as establishing an interdisciplinary AI governance group and maintaining an inventory of AI algorithms with detailed documentation.
The program also prioritizes practices that ensure adherence to security and compliance measures, conducting a thorough assessment and selection of algorithms, documenting use case-oriented training procedures, monitoring model performance for safety and effectiveness, and contributing to the “Rate AI“central AI registry for performance benchmarking.
According to ACR leaders, ARCH-AI is built on proven best practices and is designed to provide consensus-driven building blocks focused on infrastructure, process, and governance.
“ARCH-AI can help radiology practices structure QA processes that help them plan for what can go wrong, including the development of good AI governance practices, acceptance testing, and effectiveness monitoring of AI products to ensure they continue to perform as expected over time,” said Dr. Keith J. DreyerChief Science Officer at the ACR Data Science Institute and a long-time leader in AI-driven radiology innovation.
According to ACR, practices that earn ARCH-AI certification will receive a badge to display in their reception area, demonstrating their commitment to AI safety to patients, payers, and referring physicians.
THE BIGGER TREND
Applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning are already changing the way radiology is practiced. They offer enormous potential to make imaging processes more efficient and of higher quality as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to develop.
But as with any clinical application of AI, it’s critical to roll them out carefully and deliberately, with a keen eye for safety and effectiveness. That’s what this and other frameworks are designed to help ensure.
ON THE RECORD
“AI is different from previous technologies,” Dr. Christoph Wald, vice chair of the ACR Board of Chancellors and chair of the ACR Commission on Informatics, said in a statement. “Even an AI product approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration must undergo local testing to ensure it works safely and as intended. Practice leaders must put safeguards in place to maximize the benefit of AI products while minimizing risk.”
ARCH-AI, he said, provides “a low-cost and efficient system to help sites do that.”
Mike Miliard is Editor-in-Chief of Healthcare IT News
Email the author: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS.
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