In recent years, regulatory bodies in the United States and Europe have worked to create rules to guide the development and use of AI technologies. This is especially true for AI systems considered high-risk in sensitive areas like healthcare. These rules aim to balance new technology with patient safety, privacy, fairness, and openness.
Starting August 1, 2024, the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act) will be one of the first broad laws worldwide to govern AI use. Although it is a law in Europe, it also affects organizations outside Europe. This means healthcare providers and AI companies in the U.S. working with European patients or partners must follow these rules. The Act divides AI systems into categories based on risk: unacceptable, high, limited, and minimal risk.
For U.S. healthcare leaders, this means any work connected to Europe needs thorough checking for these rules.
Unlike Europe’s single set of rules, AI laws in the United States are spread out. There is no one main federal AI law. Instead, rules come from executive orders, agency guidance, and state laws.
Healthcare administrators and IT managers in the U.S. must know the rules in their states because these can differ, especially when caring for diverse patients or expanding services.
These various rules and guides share several important ideas for using AI responsibly in healthcare. Leaders at medical practices should use these ideas when choosing, using, and maintaining AI tools.
AI systems must be made and checked to prevent bias that could lead to unfair treatment of patient groups. Bias can happen if training data is not diverse or if the AI model is poorly designed. This may harm minority groups or patients with certain conditions.
AI developers like PathAI and IBM’s Watsonx Orchestrate work to find and fix bias by testing often and using varied data. Practice leaders should ask about these efforts when buying AI tools and request proof that the tools were tested for fairness.
Transparency means clearly explaining how AI systems work, including the data they use and how they make decisions. Explainability helps healthcare workers understand AI advice so they can use it alongside their own judgment instead of relying only on automated suggestions.
For example, Ada Health’s AI medical assessments tell users they are interacting with AI, which helps build trust. Healthcare leaders should ask vendors to be open like this so staff and patients feel comfortable with AI.
Patient health data is sensitive and needs strong protection against misuse or unauthorized access. Both the EU AI Act and U.S. laws stress strict rules for managing data and protecting privacy.
Healthcare providers must ensure AI tools follow HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) rules as well as AI-specific standards. This includes checking how data is collected, stored, and shared by AI companies.
AI should support, not replace, human decisions in healthcare. Human oversight helps avoid depending too much on AI and can catch errors AI might miss.
Rules highlight the need for clear responsibility. Medical administrators should assign staff to monitor AI performance and make sure the systems work well.
AI is growing quickly in healthcare offices to automate front desk tasks like answering phones, scheduling appointments, and communicating with patients. Companies such as Simbo AI offer AI systems for phone answering aimed at medical offices.
Like clinical AI tools, front office automation must follow responsible AI ideas:
Due to changing rules, healthcare leaders must check that their AI vendors follow AI laws and privacy rules. They should review, test, and audit AI tools regularly to keep them working well and within standards.
With AI rules and expectations changing, healthcare leaders should take several steps:
Groups like the Alliance for Health Policy help U.S. lawmakers, healthcare workers, patient advocates, and administrators stay informed about AI developments.
Healthcare groups in places like Washington state and the Pacific Northwest can use these resources to better match their practices with federal and regional rules.
As AI becomes a normal part of healthcare services and office work in the United States, medical practice leaders face more responsibility to make sure these tools are used safely and follow rules. The EU has set early examples with its AI Act. Meanwhile, U.S. federal and state rules are forming a patchwork focused on fairness, transparency, data safety, and human oversight.
Healthcare administrators and IT staff need to keep up with these changes and work closely with vendors to choose AI tools that meet new standards. AI tools that automate front office tasks, like Simbo AI’s phone answering services, show how AI can make operations smoother if used carefully and responsibly.
Using AI responsibly in healthcare helps create safer, more efficient, and patient-focused services while managing the complex laws around these new technologies.
The Alliance for Health Policy is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to helping policymakers and the public better understand health policy and the underlying issues affecting the nation’s health care system.
This year’s theme focuses on the transformative power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in health care and health policy, addressing challenging issues and fostering dialogue among experts.
The Health Policy Academy is an annual event aimed at educating Hill and federal agency staff on health policy complexities, enabling them to build foundational knowledge over more than 30 years.
The 2024 Post Election Symposium is scheduled for November 13, 2024, coinciding with the aftermath of the presidential election to discuss its implications on health care.
The 2024 briefing will cover the evolving standards for responsible AI in health care, providing foundational information for congressional staff and policymakers.
This webinar provides an overview of the current legislative and regulatory landscape surrounding AI’s role in health care, including its impacts and associated risks.
The summit on July 25, 2024, will feature panel presentations examining the transformative power of AI in health care, aimed at informing health policy leaders.
Resources are aimed at a broad range of stakeholders, including policymakers, health care practitioners, patient advocates, and media professionals.
The post-election panel discussions will explore the evolving health care landscape and the key issues that will persist or change under the new administration.
The Alliance invites participation from all sectors and gathers insights to advance conversations about improving health and health care in the United States.
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