The Consumer Technology Association rolled out a new standard for the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare. The standard, based on discussions between more than 50 different healthcare and technology firms, will create a common foundation for new projects using these technologies.
The new standard created common definitions for often-debated terms, including de-identified data, remote patient monitoring, and assistive intelligence. It also created guidance to improve the integrity of data used to develop these tools, and to make AI more “trustworthy” by reducing bias.
“AI will play a major role in driving efficiency in healthcare and will support clinicians in making more precise diagnosis, offer personalized treatment and better guidance towards improved outcomes,” Pat Baird, co-chair of the working group and regulatory head of global software standards at Philips, said in a news release. “This implies that AI will be used for decision support and decision making, which stresses the need for professionals to be able to take ownership, apply judgment and empathy. Transparency and a common language will be key to enable the proper and safe functioning of AI.”
Working group members ranged from clinical giants, including American Medical Association and Humana, to big tech companies, such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft. Digital health startups also had a seat at the table, too, including Livongo, MindMaze and CarePredict.
René Quashie, CTA’s vice president of policy and regulatory affairs for digital health, said it was part of a broader effort to create a set of best practices for AI. CTA spun out the healthcare working group last year.
“We discovered AI in healthcare had some unique characteristics that we wanted to look at,” Quashie said. “Where solutions fit in the workflows of clinicians is important. … There’s a tremendous opportunity for AI to improve outcomes and lower costs.”
He hopes new developers will consider CTA’s standard as a foundation as they create new solutions for healthcare.
“Standardization in many ways in a field like this actually leads to more technology,” he said. “We want to provide some trust in some of these solutions. We’re big believers in some of these solutions to transform healthcare.”
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