Amazon, Microsoft team up with Consumer Technology Association on healthcare AI standards – FierceHealthcare

Big names in technology, including Amazon, Microsoft, and IBM, worked with healthcare industry groups to developa standard for the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare.

Convened by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), a working group made up of 52 organizations set out to create a common language so industry stakeholders can better understand AI technologies.

Thestandard, which was released Tuesday,has been accredited by theAmerican National Standards Institute (ANSI).

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The CTA working groupwas created a year ago to develop some standardization on definitions and characteristics of healthcare AI.

Healthcare organizations involved in the project include the American Medical Association,Doctor on Demand, Livongo, Ginger, AdvaMed,American Telemedicine Association, Fitbit, soon to be owned by Google, and Humana, thefirst payer to jointhe CTA last September.

It's part of the CTAs new initiative on AI and is the first in several steps the CTAplans to help create a foundation forimplementingmedicaland health caresolutions built onAI.

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This standard creates a firm base for the growing use of AI in our health caretechnology that will better diagnose diseases, monitor patients recoveries and help us all live healthier lives, said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA. This is a major first stepconvening some of the biggestplayers in the digital health worldto help create a more efficient health care system and offer value-based health care to Americans.

AI-related termsareused in differentways,leading toconfusionespecially in thehealth care industry, including telehealth and remote patient monitoring.

The healthcare AI standard developed by the working groupprovides a foundation of definitions to understand AI and common terminology. The goal in creating the standard is to foster "a better understanding AI technologiesandcommon terminologysoconsumers, tech companies and care providers can better communicate, develop and use AI-basedhealth care technologies," the CTA said.

So far, common terminologyhasdefinedthe intent of useand thatsone of the most significant challenges in developing standard applications of AI, saidRene Quashie, VP,policy andregulatoryaffairs,digitalhealth,CTA. As health systemsand providersuse AI toolssuch asmachine learning todiagnose, treat and manage disease, theres an urgent need to understand and agree on AI concepts for consistent use.This standard does exactly that.

Among the definitions, thestandard includesdebatedtermssuch as assistive intelligence, which the group defined as a category of AI software that informs or drives diagnosis or clinical management of a patient with the healthcare provider makingthe ultimate decisions before clinical action is taken.

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Other definitions include terms like de-identified data, synthetic data, remote patient monitoring, and patient decision support system.

As the healthcare system deals with clinician shortages, an aging population and the persistence of chronic diseases in the US, technologically driven solutions, such as AI, will increasingly be used to meet clinician and patient needs, the group notes.

As AI is increasingly used fordecision support and decision making, healthcare professionals will need 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," said Pat Baird, regulatory head of global software standards at Philips and co-chair of the working group.

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Amazon, Microsoft team up with Consumer Technology Association on healthcare AI standards - FierceHealthcare