By Tina Joros, JD (Veradigm), Chair, and Stephen Speicher, MD, MS (Flatiron Health), Vice Chair, EHR Association AI Task Force

The speed at which artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming deeply embedded into every facet of healthcare has lawmakers, regulators, policymakers, special interest groups, and other stakeholders racing to establish a governance structure to ensure its safe and meaningful use – without hindering innovation and efficacy. Recognizing our unique role in shaping AI’s future in healthcare, the EHR Association established an AI Task Force that will focus on thought leadership, guidance, and advocacy. 

One Voice, Many Perspectives

Establishing this task force is an important step, given the speed at which AI is advancing and the significant influence it has already had on health IT and healthcare in general. Like the EHR Association itself, a key strength of the AI Task Force is its broad representation of viewpoints, including those of inpatient and ambulatory providers and EHR developers, as well as clinical, legal, and regulatory perspectives. Each brings a unique point of view, need, and area of interest to the AI conversation – a diversity that came into focus during our recent kickoff meeting.

“As with any technology, new or existing, it’s always important to make sure we understand the problem we’re trying to solve for the user. We must keep the user at the center and ensure that what we design and develop brings value to them and meets their needs and goals.”

Tammy Coutts, lead software designer with MEDITECH and vice chair of the EHR Association’s User Experience Workgroup, told the AI Task Force that she views its work through the lens of the user experience. “As with any technology, new or existing, it’s always important to make sure we understand the problem we’re trying to solve for the user. We must keep the user at the center and ensure that what we design and develop brings value to them and meets their needs and goals.”

Shari Medina, MD, a former emergency physician and medical director for Harris Computer, is one of several participants who bring a clinical perspective to the discussion. Because her organization offers solutions that “cross the continuum of care,” she hopes her involvement with the task force helps establish a clear understanding of “how AI could potentially impact those clinical environments and the regulatory implications.”

Adds Courtney Tesvich, RN, MBA, MJ, CHC, CHPC, who brings a nursing background to her role as vice president of regulatory and compliance for Nextech Systems, “We want to make sure that [AI] serves our customers well, that it’s safe, and that we have a strong regulatory guidance program within our organization.”

An Evolving Regulatory Landscape

Regulatory guidance is a core focus of the AI Task Force, as appropriate regulatory measures and transparency will help ensure AI is responsibly designed, developed, and utilized in a way that enhances the utility of EHR systems and – by extension – improves patient care. Additionally, oversight of the proliferation of state and federal bills governing AI is needed to ensure health IT vendors can feasibly comply, in part because some may cause confusion or place undue burdens on developers and users while others overlap or potentially conflict with ASTP’s (formerly ONC) algorithm transparency reporting requirements. 

Regulatory guidance is a core focus of the AI Task Force, as appropriate regulatory measures and transparency will help ensure AI is responsibly designed, developed, and utilized in a way that enhances the utility of EHR systems and – by extension – improves patient care.

Furthermore, there is immense market pressure on EHR vendors to build or integrate AI solutions. While this presents an opportunity for health IT developers to innovate in a rapidly evolving area, it also potentially imposes new privacy and security risks and clinical risks from issues including automation bias, black box reasoning, and data bias.

The AI Task Force will address these concerns in two ways. First by raising awareness among Association members about the impact the raft of AI legislation may have on their solutions and customers. Second by educating governing bodies and agencies on EHR software development, deployment, and use to help them understand the implications of regulatory actions for EHR and other health IT vendors and users.

Ambitious Goals, Boundless Determination

Unlike EHR Association workgroups, which are permanent, task forces have a limited duration. For the AI Task Force, this means covering as much ground as possible in less than two years, unless the decision is made to change its status or expand its duration. 

Given the rapidity with which state and federal lawmakers are proposing and enacting new legislation impacting AI’s use in healthcare and the regulatory guidance already emerging from HHS and other agencies – e.g., HTI-1 advances new requirements for AI transparency and interoperability – there is no time to waste.

AI holds great promise for improving healthcare administrative and clinical operations. The AI Task Force will ensure the voices, insights, and concerns of EHR Association member organizations are heard. By doing so, we help ensure that the legacy of AI in healthcare is one of meaningful and safe use, higher quality care, and vastly improved clinical outcomes.