From left to right: BSA Senior Director, Legislative Strategy Danielle Brown;Johnson & Johnson Senior Counsel, Cybersecurity Scott Jones; Oracle Health Innovation Scientist CJ Robison; and Medtronic Vice-President and Chief Legal Counsel, Data and Privacy, Tom Schumacher.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is already having a profound, positive effect on health care, speakers from software and health science companies told a large audience on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
BSA | The Software Alliance and BSA’s Digital Transformation Network (DTN) hosted a briefing for over 100 congressional staff in conjunction with the release of a new DTN report, “AI and Digital Tools for Better Health.” Director, Digital Health Center of Excellence, US Food and Drug Administration, Troy Tazbaz, offered opening remarks on the importance of creating an infrastructure to safely use AI while encouraging innovation.
“Not only can AI allow us to deliver care more effectively for folks that have a huge challenge in getting that care, but it can also help us use the workforce and enable the workforce to do the work they love to do without being overwhelmed,” said CJ Robison, a Health Innovation Scientist for Oracle.
The DTN report highlighted some of the major benefits of responsible AI in health care – themes echoed throughout Tuesday’s briefing. The report pointed to research showing that AI could lead to 5-10 percent savings on US health care spending (as much as $360 billion annually). AI, the report also highlighted, could help to also ensure continued access to services amid an expected 10 million shortfall of physicians, nurses, midwives, and others in the health care workforce.
BSA Senior Director, Legislative Strategy Danielle Brown moderated the panel and was joined by Johnson & Johnson Senior Counsel, Cybersecurity Scott Jones; Medtronic Vice-President and Chief Legal Counsel, Data and Privacy, Tom Schumacher; and Robison.
The panelists spoke to how AI can assist health care professionals in the early detection of diseases, enhance the clinician-patient experience, and streamline administrative processes to alleviate health care costs. But they also identified the need for adopting tools like risk management frameworks (RMFs) and impact assessments in evaluating high-risk AI systems for bias and other unintended effects.
“The most important thing that I would like you to know is that you should regulate health care like health care by using a risk-based approach,” said Schumacher in a message to policymakers about the importance of encouraging innovation in AI to strengthen personalized medicine.
Both Jones and Robison echoed Schumacher’s sentiments, stating that AI tools could help practitioners deliver personalized care effectively and help the ongoing industry workforce challenges.
Panelists identified many examples of AI’s impact on health care and the transformative impact it will have on the future of the industry. But, as Jones explained, AI can also be used in a number of important contexts. He discussed how AI can combat cybersecurity threats by detecting malware and how de-identification could be more easily accessible and widely used with the addition of AI capabilities.
BSA continues to encourage the responsible development and deployment of AI by taking the appropriate steps to mitigate risk, including conducting impact assessments to identify risks of bias and discrimination.
Learn more about artificial intelligence in the health care sector in the most recent DTN report here.
