AMA: Physicians must lead in developing AI tools to improve patient care and workflow

Physicians must lead development of new ways for doctors to use artificial intelligence (AI) programs in treating patients and managing their work, according to the American Medical Association (AMA).

The new Center for Digital Health and AI is “a new endeavor created to put physicians at the center of shaping, guiding, and implementing technologies transforming medicine,” according to AMA’s official announcement.

“Augmented Intelligence will be a defining force in the future of health care, but right now we are barely scratching the surface of its potential,” AMA CEO and Executive Vice President John Whyte, MD, MPH, said in a news release. “Digital health tools are everywhere and the technology has limitless opportunity, but if you don’t understand clinical practice or clinical workflow, even the best tools will never be fully implemented.

“By launching this center, the AMA is leading in this space so physicians have a say in the technology and clinical care of the future,” Whyte said. “Our goal is to harness innovation responsibly and effectively, so it improves patient care and reduces unnecessary burdens on physicians.”

AMA said the Center for Digital Health and AI will have four areas of focus:

• Policy and regulatory leadership: Working with regulators, policymakers, and technology leaders to shape benchmarks for safe and effective use of AI in medicine and digital health tools.
• Clinical workflow integration: Creating opportunities for doctors to shape AI and digital tools so they work within clinical workflows and enhance patient and clinician experience.
• Education and training: Equipping physicians and health systems with knowledge and tools to integrate AI efficiently and effectively into practice.

Collaboration: Building partnerships across the tech, research, government, and health care sectors to drive innovation aligned with patient needs.

Announcement of the center came a week after JAMA published “AI, health, and Health Care Today and Tomorrow: The JAMA Summit Report on Artificial Intelligence.” While AI has been integrated into various systems in health care, the special communication authors noted the sector still needs progress in at least four areas:

• Multistakeholder engagement through the product life cycle, including partnering between program creators and end users.
• New measures to evaluate program effectiveness.
• A nationally representative data infrastructure to support and spread knowledge about AI tools and how they work across different settings.
• Incentives that combine market forces and policy to drive change.

AMA is not the only physicians group to weigh in on the future of AI in medicine. Last year, the American College of Physicians (ACP) issued “Artificial Intelligence in the Provision of Health Care,” a position paper outlining its top recommendations on the new technology.

First and foremost, ACP said AI should not replace doctors: “ACP firmly believes that AI-enabled technologies should complement and not supplant the logic and decision making of physicians and other clinicians.”