A recent survey by the American Medical Association found that 81% of doctors polled are using augmented intelligence tools in some form.<\/p>\n
This result is more than double that of the 2023 poll.<\/p>\n
According to the survey, these 1,700 doctors are using AI tools to document medical visits, create discharge instructions, and stay current with medical research.<\/p>\n
The AMA House of Delegates uses the term augmented intelligence instead of artificial intelligence to emphasize that AI assists and enhances human intelligence, not replaces it.<\/p>\n
John Whyte, American Medical Association chief executive officer and executive vice president, echoed those findings on the association\u2019s website, while expressing the need for regulation.<\/p>\n
\u201cPhysicians see real promise in its ability to support clinical decisions and cut down on administrative burden,\u201d Whyte said. \u201cBut as this technology advances, it is critical that augmented intelligence be designed to enhance \u2013 not replace \u2013 physicians.”<\/p>\n
As healthcare providers increasingly embrace artificial intelligence, medical leaders and regulators are working to ensure the technology is used safely and responsibly.<\/p>\n
Whyte stressed that doctors should \u201chelp shape how AI is integrated into medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor doctors to trust and use these tools, they must be safe, effective and used responsibly so they truly improve patient care,\u201d Whyte said.<\/p>\n
But who pays for them?<\/p>\n
On April 9, 2025, S.1399-Health Tech Investment Act was introduced in the Senate.<\/p>\n
This bipartisan bill aims to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act \u201cto ensure appropriate payment of certain algorithm-based healthcare services under the Medicare program,\u201d according to the bill.<\/p>\n
These services must be delivered through a device cleared or approved by the Food and Drug Administration that uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, or other similarly designed software to yield clinical outputs or generate clinical conclusions,” according to the bill.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, these services must be used by \u201cdoctors or healthcare practitioners for screening, detection, diagnosis or treatment of an individual\u2019s condition or disease,\u201d according to the bill.<\/p>\n
Dr. Omar S. Khokhar of Illinois GastroHealth and OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington said, \u201cThere is no additional cost to the patient,\u201d for AI use with colonoscopies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe AI system is paid for by the surgery center,\u201d Khokhar said.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, \u201cwe fully disclose that we use AI prior to colonoscopy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201c[And] we do not collect any patient data,\u201d Khokhar said.<\/p>\n
Patients also don\u2019t pay when healthcare providers use ambient listening AI, according to Dr. Michael Endris, a pediatrician with OSF Medical Group in Bloomington.<\/p>\n
They must also consent to its use, Endris said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy default, it is not used unless consent is obtained ahead of time,\u201d Endris said. Patients must sign a form giving us consent to use it.”<\/p>\n
Last fall, the American Medical Association launched The AMA Center for Digital Health and AI. <\/p>\n
The center aims to build \u201cpartnerships with regulators, policymakers and technology leaders to shape benchmarks for safe and effective use of augmented intelligence and other digital tools in medicine,\u201d as well as educate and support doctors in their use, according to the website.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, as AI becomes embedded into many aspects of healthcare organizations \u2013 administrative, care-support workflows, clinical and operational \u2013 healthcare organizations \u201cface new risks related to patient safety, privacy, bias, transparency, and oversight,\u201d according to the Joint Commission website.<\/p>\n
Created in 1951, the Joint Commission is an independent, not-for-profit organization that accredits more than 20,000 healthcare programs and organizations in the United States, with most of its functions directly related to patient safety, according to the National Library of Medicine.<\/p>\n
So to help ensure healthcare organizations use augmented intelligence responsibly, the Joint Commission recently created a voluntary certification: \u201cResponsible Use of AI in Healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n
The certificate will recognize U.S. healthcare organizations that \u201cdemonstrate they have the governance, safeguards, monitoring processes, and education in place to use AI responsibly,\u201d according to the Joint Commission website.<\/p>\n
The certification does not certify any individual AI products or tools, according to the website.<\/p>\n
But it will create a \u201cblueprint for safely and appropriately using AI,\u201d Dr. Jonathan B. Perlin, president and chief executive officer of the Joint Commission, said on the commission\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
Karen Harris, senior vice president and general counsel for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, said the association supports systems that help patient outcomes, expand access to care, and lower costs.<\/p>\n
But while the association overall favors AI, the association also recognizes AI is in its initial stages, Harris said.<\/p>\n
So policymakers need to keep three things in mind: remembering the past while planning for the future; employing common definitions and laws while tailoring regulation to industries; and balancing appropriate safeguards with innovation, Harris said.<\/p>\n
For instance, Harris said AI legislation should be considered as a living policy. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we should get some initial frameworks out there, legislators need to be cognizant of the fact that the AI technology we\u2019re seeing will keep growing and evolving,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n
Also, legislation should recognize that certain industries already must comply with other regulatory frameworks to prevent duplication or impede requirements already in place, Harris said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHIPAA already has robust protections for data and privacy,\u201d Harris said. \u201cBut maybe other industries don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finally, Harris said AI definitely needs guardrails. But guardrails should not negatively impact systems already deployed and proven useful in preventing harm, she said.<\/p>\n
That means policymakers should continue engaging healthcare providers, patients, and other stakeholders, Harris said, <\/p>\n
\u201cSo that we ultimately make sure to develop measured, forward-thinking guardrails that protect patients and allow innovation and improve health care delivery,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A recent survey by the American Medical Association found that 81% of doctors polled are using augmented intelligence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,27165,45487,45493,45488,1657,1668,45481,120,45483,45485,45484,45486,45490,45482,45491,45492],"class_list":["post-85507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-cook-county","tag-dekalb-county","tag-dupage-county","tag-grundy-county","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-health-care-team","tag-illinois","tag-kane-county","tag-kankakee-county","tag-kendall-county","tag-la-salle-county","tag-lee-county","tag-mchenry-county","tag-whiteside-county","tag-will-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}