Artificial intelligence (AI) has been revolutionizing the way people and businesses complete a variety of tasks, and it promises to continue to do so at an increasing pace. One area that has great potential for AI applications is the healthcare industry.
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In a previous post, we discussed how AI is already being used to improve the healthcare industry, and here, we look forward to what could come next.
A task force set up by Connected Health recently published a report titled “Policy Principles for Artificial Intelligence in Health” that discusses and makes recommendations on the future use of AI in health care.
The report has four key goals for healthcare AI systems:
- Improving population health
- Improving patient health outcomes and satisfaction
- Increasing value by lowering overall costs
- Improving clinician and healthcare team well-being
The report also proposes 11 policy principals to achieve these goals. We’ll tackle the first 5 in this post and look at the last 6 in a follow-up post.
National Health AI Strategy
Given the importance of AI in health care, policies should be implemented on a national level rather than having different policies in each state.
Research
Funding should be facilitated for the research and development of AI in health care at levels sufficient to advance the new science.
Quality Assurance and Oversight
With so much at stake and with the power of this new technology, quality assurance and oversight need to be top focuses.
Thoughtful Design
“Policy frameworks should require design of AI systems in health care that are informed by real-world workflow, human-centered design and usability principles, and end-user needs,” says the report, which adds that AI systems should also be designed to overcome existing industry fragmentation and dysfunctions.
Access and Affordability
The report suggests implementing payment and incentive policies, designing systems with an eye toward value, and seeking scalable solutions to promote access and affordability.
Connected Health proposes these five policies to successfully integrate AI technologies into the healthcare industry, and we’ll look at the last six in our final post covering this report.