The health industry has always leaned into emerging technologies to help it become more efficient and effective in delivering patient care. Like a doctor's stethoscope or an X-ray machine, today's digital solutions are part of a continuing evolution of medical tools that enhance and inform provider care. Of course, this use of technology must be thoughtful and careful not to replace doctors or their decisions with computer-generated suggestions.
The government's role of oversight into healthcare delivery is a careful balancing act of encouraging innovation while ensuring patient safety. From medical devices to artificial intelligence (AI), regulations are evolving to ensure healthcare gains efficiencies and insights from digital solutions while maintaining patient protections. In fact, the Food and Drug Administration recently created a new Digital Health Advisory Committee to help support the development of digital health technologies and their regulation. This committee will examine a wide variety of technologies and issues, including AI, cyber security, and equity in healthcare delivery.
AI Promise and Perils
The speed and data computation power of AI can improve health-care delivery in a number of applications, including:
- Medical imaging
- Drug discoveries
- Clinical decision support
- Clinical documentation
- Patient-specific treatment plans
- Disease prediction
However, its use must include a human medical expert in the loop before being delivered to a patient. Rep. Ted Lieu has been a leading expert on how to manage the use of AI in medicine. He co-authored an article in the New England Journal of Medicine outlining a regulatory and quality-control framework for introducing generative AI into patient care. He highlighted how he is working on legislation to have the National Institutes of Health provide grants and funding for research on how to deliver patient care using generative AI and do it accurately. He's also working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to instill incentives to encourage doctors to look at ways to use AI to help their offices.
Securing Life-Saving Data
The value in the sensitive and personal data held by healthcare organizations make them a top target for cyber criminals. To support the industry in keeping patient data safe, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released guidance tailored to protecting the healthcare sector from cyberattacks. The cybersecurity tool kit is a portal for healthcare organizations to access various cybersecurity resources, including overviews of cyber hygiene, how to address resource constraints, and how to voluntarily share information on potential breaches.
Similarly, the Department of Health and Human Services has developed resources in response to rising cyber attacks. The 2023 edition of the Health Industry Cybersecurity Practices document has been updated with input from industry and federal cybersecurity professionals. It provides guidelines for hospitals' core cybersecurity best practices and sets parameters for cybersecurity information sharing with the federal government.
Closing Equity Gaps
The pandemic exposed the lack of equity in how healthcare is delivered nationwide, and it also hastened the implementation of technology that has great promise to close that gap. Wide availability of telehealth has given people in rural areas more timely access to care and provided a time efficient option for people who may have put off seeking care because they could not take off work.
Technology is showing promise in reducing maternal mortality rates. The U.S. has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, though research says that more than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. These deaths occur more commonly among women of color, who are three times more likely to die than white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Maternal mortality events frequently take place after discharge so the use of telehealth can, in fact, be a lifesaving tool when used to follow-up with new mothers. Proposed legislation, the Tech to Saves Moms Act, calls on investment in telehealth and digital tools to overcome barriers to care.
For more details on how regulation and innovation are being balanced in digital health, check out these resources from GovEvents and GovWhitePapers.
- The 2024 Gartner Predictions: Healthcare & Life Science Risks and Opportunities (December 19, 2023; webinar) - Healthcare and life science leaders will gain insight to determine what actions to take to solve their most pressing business problems and exploit new areas of opportunity.
- Health IT Summit (January 30-31, 2024; Bethesda, MD) - Transforming the U.S. healthcare system into one that delivers quality care, world-class results, and improved customer experiences for millions of people is an ongoing journey for the nation and the federal agencies This event will address What Now? What Next?
- HIMSS24 Global Health Conference & Exhibition (March 11-15, 2024; Orlando, FL) - Glean insights from world-renowned experts and dive into the hottest topics in healthcare. Explore cutting-edge health technologies poised to conquer your most formidable challenges.
- The State of Techquity in 2023 (white paper) - Technology and data are now at the heart of health care. Technology has the potential to revolutionize every aspect of health care--yet there is also a risk that it will unintentionally deepen long-standing injustices among vulnerable populations. The Techquity for Health coalition asked healthcare leaders how they're integrating equity into the design and deployment of new technologies.
- Health Industry Cybersecurity - Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning (HIC-AIM) (white paper) - The promise of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) comes at a price: artificial intelligence systems, especially those dependent on machine learning, can be vulnerable to intentional attacks that involve evasion, data poisoning, model replication, and exploitation of traditional software flaws to deceive, manipulate, compromise, and render them ineffective. This white paper looks at the risks of adopting AI/ML systems without being aware of their vulnerabilities.
- Lasting Benefits of Telehealth (white paper) - This publication discusses four top trends, including equitable access to care, empowering of patients, support needed for providers, and a holistic approach to digital versus in-person care.
Search GovEvents and GovWhitePapers for more insight into health IT and digital health implementations.
