The AI sheriff is coming for health care

The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Oct 31, 2023 View in browser   By Shawn Zeller, Daniel Payne, Carmen Paun, Evan Peng and Erin Schumaker AROUND THE AGENCIES Biden's got big plans for AI regulation in health care. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images President Joe Biden’s executive order on artificial intelligence is a warning to those developing AI systems in health care: The government's laissez-faire approach is ending. The order — the full text was released last night — envisions, within months, a new regulatory structure that will aim to ensure AI tools already in use across a broad swath of the health care industry maintain “appropriate levels of quality.” Those areas include AI to help doctors evaluate patients and diagnose diseases, but also tools that boost research and development of drugs and medical devices, measure the quality of care, streamline insurance benefits administration, manage the patient experience, and prioritize public health needs. Because AI systems are constantly learning as they process new data, Biden is asking the Department of Health and Human Services to stand up a regulatory structure capable of assessing the tools before they go to market and overseeing their performance after they do. That structure would take whistleblower complaints about safety, privacy and security and catalog errors made by AI systems. Biden wants HHS to ensure that that information is well-publicized to both providers and patients. Spurring innovation: In addition to mitigating the risks of unregulated AI, the order seeks to explore whether AI tools can make care better, cheaper and more equitable. The order tasks HHS with ramping up grantmaking aimed at: — developing AI-enabled tools that create personalized immune-response profiles for patients. Researchers envison future therapies tailor-made to help each patient’s unique immune system fight disease. — improving health care data quality on which AI systems rely. — promoting workplace efficiency and job satisfaction by reducing administrative burdens. — bolstering care for veterans and supporting small businesses through two three-month nationwide “AI Tech Sprint” competitions. What’s next? Biden has given HHS and other agencies six months to a year to carry out the order.   GO INSIDE THE CAPITOL DOME: From the outset, POLITICO has been your eyes and ears on Capitol Hill, providing the most thorough Congress coverage — from political characters and emerging leaders to leadership squabbles and policy nuggets during committee markups and hearings. We're stepping up our game to ensure you’re fully informed on every key detail inside the Capitol Dome, all day, every day. Start your day with Playbook AM, refuel at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report and enrich your evening discussions with Huddle. Plus, stay updated with real-time buzz all day through our brand new Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here.     WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE Happy Halloween! | Shawn Zeller This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Ozempic and other weight loss drugs are getting people to cut back on donuts in more ways than one: Truist Securities changed their price target for shares of Krispy Kreme from $20 to $13 and recommended investors hold their shares rather than buy more, Bloomberg reports. In its decision, the financial services firm cited uncertainty over the impact of the drugs on packaged food stocks. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Evan Peng at epeng@politico.com or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. Next week, Future Pulse will cover the Milken Institute's Future of Health Summit, one of the most important global health events of the year. We'll report on the policy, politics and trends impacting the future of health care at Milken from Nov. 6-8. Today on our Pulse Check podcast, host Chelsea Cirruzzo talks with POLITICO health care reporter Ben Leonard about President Biden's executive order directing HHS to develop guidelines and oversight for the use of AI in health care. Listen to today’s Pulse Check podcast CHECKUP Doctors agree AI is the future, but aren't sure whether that's good or bad. | AFP via Getty Images Doctors are split on using artificial intelligence in their practices — about risks, benefits and where it should be used. How so? Just over half of physicians are enthusiastic about the technology, with the rest apprehensive, according to a new survey from Medscape, which included over 1,000 doctors across specialties. There are areas in which doctors have more doubts about the systems’ abilities. Well over half — 65 percent — were concerned with the prospect of AI driving diagnostic and treatment decisions. Many docs are already using AI systems, for researching conditions, completing paperwork or summarizing information, they said. And most see administrative tasks such as scheduling as having the greatest likelihood for future use. One thing most doctors agreed on: that they need to be informed about AI, with all but one percent saying it’s important or very important to keep up with the technology. Even so: It’s not all upside, though. Most of those surveyed worried their patients would get and follow medical advice from AI sources before consulting them. A narrow majority also worry the technology will increase their risk for malpractice litigation.   DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO APP: Stay in the know with the POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS – DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID.     WORLD VIEW Nigeria is enlisting influencers to convince families to get their girls vaccinated against HPV. | AFP via Getty Images Nigeria’s first lady, Oluremi Tinubu, Nollywood actors and Nigerian governors’ wives are using their star power to reassure citizens that the HPV vaccine, which the government started rolling out last week, is safe and should be given to 9- to 14 -year-old girls to prevent them from developing cervical cancer. How come? Africa’s most populous country is in the midst of a vaccination campaign aiming to reach most of the 7.7 million eligible girls. But Nigerian researchers, with UNICEF support, found the public skeptical after they ran two rounds of surveys to understand people’s feelings about the virus and the vaccine. The celebrities are dispelling rumors that the vaccine causes infertility or congenital diseases in babies whose mothers were vaccinated, said Dr. Dorothy Ochola-Odongo, UNICEF Nigeria’s health manager. Why it matters: Some 8,000 women died of cervical cancer in Nigeria in 2020, the lastest year for which data is available. Access to HPV vaccines for Nigeria and other African countries has been hampered by shortages that are easing, particularly since a recent study showed that the protection from one vaccine dose was comparable to the one delivered by two doses. Nigeria’s federal health ministry provides free vaccines, which it procured with support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; UNICEF; the World Health Organization; and others.   Follow us on Twitter Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker Evan Peng @thepngfile   Follow us

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