March 01, 2024
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
As artificial intelligence enters the health care industry, the White House has developed commitments for providers and insurers to follow to best support patients and manage its risks. Penn Medicine and Independence Blue Cross are among 37 health care organizations that have adopted them.
Penn Medicine and Independence Blue Cross have joined 35 other U.S. health care providers and insurers in pledging to follow the White House's commitments regarding the use of artificial intelligence in medicine.
In October, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to address concerns about how to harness the potential of AI and prepare for risks associated with its rapid development. The executive order sought to create a framework for governing AI, one that enables technology companies to refine it for social good while protecting national security and consumers from harm.
In December, the White House announced five commitments regarding AI's role specifically in the health care sector. The commitments are framed around safety, security and trust. They call for AI to be used in ways that optimize the delivery and payment of health care services, improve affordability and equity, increase access and reduce the burnout experienced by clinicians. They also aim to ensure that consumers are informed when aspects of their care are generated by AI without being reviewed or edited by people.
Main Line Health and Geisinger Health also are among the health care providers that have signed on to the White House's commitments on AI.
The commitments were developed to address concerns on the "demand side" of the health care industry, including the providers and payers who implement the systems that tech companies create and sell to them.
AI is increasingly being used to help diagnose patients, improve remote care, aid in the development and discovery of drugs, and identify new uses for drugs that already are approved for other conditions. It's also viewed as a powerful tool to automate certain practices in medical billing, such as reviewing records and assigning codes to limit human error. Creating more efficient methods for certain administrative functions may help eliminate costs and decrease health care spending.
Wider adoption of AI in health care will depend heavily on establishing stronger levels of trust among doctors and patients. A Pew Research Survey last year found that 60% of Americans would feel uncomfortable if their physicians relied on AI for their medical care. Only 38% of the people surveyed said they believe AI will result in better health outcomes when used to diagnoses diseases and recommend treatments.
In January, an American Medical Association survey of doctors found that nearly two-thirds see advantages to AI in health care, but only 38% said they were using it currently. Of those who responded, 41% said they were equally excited and concerned by potential uses of AI in health care.
"Whatever the future of health care looks like, patients need to know there is a human being on the other end helping guide their course of care," AMA President Dr. Jesse M. Ehrenfeld said.
The 37 organizations that have signed on to the White House's AI commitments have pledged to revisit and revise the commitments as they learn more from the early implementation of AI systems in their organizations.
"We are committed to pursuing these once in a generation innovations and benefits while mitigating risks and protecting patient information," said Mike Vennera, executive vice president and chief strategy, development, and information officer for Independence Blue Cross.
