White House gets pledges from big healthcare players on AI safety and ethics

Less than two months after the Biden administration published its sweeping executive order on artificial intelligence, the White House on Thursday announced new commitments to AI transparency, risk management and accountability from more than two dozen leading healthcare organizations.

WHY IT MATTERS
The White House EO, that was it published on October 30 and has a broad range of provisions aimed at “safe, secure and trustworthy” AI across many sectors of the economy, and contains several healthcare-specific provisions in nearly 20,000 words. Specifically, it directs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to implement a mechanism to collect reports of “harm or unsafe health care practices.”

On December 14 – coinciding with the opening day of the HIMSS AI in Healthcare Forum in San Diego – the Biden administration announced new voluntary commitments around the safety and security of AI in healthcare from the private sector.

Specifically, a cohort of 28 providers and payers today announced voluntary commitments to more transparent and reliable use, purchase and use of AI-based tools, and efforts to develop their machine models more responsibly. They are:

• Allina Health

• Bassett Healthcare Network

• Boston Children's Hospital

• Curai Health

• CFS health

• Committed health

• Duke Health

• Emory Healthcare

• Pursue health

• Fairview Health Systems

• Geisinger

• Hackensack Meridian

• HealthFirst (Florida)

• Houston Methodist

• John Muir Health

• Kek Medicine

• Mainline health

• Mass General Brigham

• Medical University of South Carolina

• Oscar Health

• OSF healthcare

• Premera Blue Cross

• Rush University System for Health

• Sanford Health

• Tufts Medicine

• UC San Diego Health

• UC Davis Health

• WellSpan Health

“The commitments received today will serve to align industry action on AI with the 'FAVES' principles – that AI should lead to healthcare outcomes that are fair, appropriate, valid, effective and safe” , said National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard; Domestic policy advisor Neera Tanden and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy Arati Prabhakar to announce the new promise of these leading organizations.

As part of the agreement, the healthcare organizations pledged:

1. To educate patients and customers, she shows them content that is largely AI-generated and not reviewed or edited by humans.

2. Embracing and adhering to a risk management framework for the use of AI-powered apps, one that will help them monitor and mitigate potential harm.

3. Researching and developing new approaches to AI that “promote healthcare equity, expand access to care, make care affordable, coordinate care to improve outcomes, reduce physician burnout, and otherwise enhance the experience of improve patients.”

THE BIG TREND
The new commitments come during a busy week of news for AI in healthcare. Wednesday the Office of the National Coordinator for Healthcare IT published are Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Certification Program Updates, Algorithm Transparency, and Information Sharing, the Final Rule, or HTI-1.

Among other provisions focused on interoperability and information blocking, the long-awaited regulations pay special attention to the transparency of AI algorithms. They include requiring that predictive algorithms included in certified healthcare IT 'enable clinical users to access a consistent core set of information about the algorithms they use to support their decision-making and to assess such algorithms for fairness , suitability, validity and effectiveness. and safety,” said ONC.

Meanwhile, hundreds of clinical and technology leaders are currently gathered in San Diego HIMSS AI in Healthcare Forum to explore the promises and risks of artificial intelligence in all its manifestations – focusing on challenges and opportunities in regulation, patient safety, privacy and security, explainability, and many more imperatives. Check back with Healthcare IT News in the coming days and weeks for more coverage and video from the show.

ON THE RECORD
“We must remain vigilant to deliver on AI's promise to improve health outcomes,” White House officials said, praising news promises from health care organizations. “Without appropriate testing, risk mitigation and human oversight, AI tools used for clinical decisions can make errors that are costly at best – and dangerous at worst.

“The private sector commitments announced today are a critical step in our whole-of-society efforts to advance AI for the health and well-being of Americans,” she added. “These 28 providers and payers have stepped up their efforts and we hope more will join these commitments in the coming weeks.”