The Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS') health tech arm wants to hear from the healthcare industry about ways to speed up the adoption of artificial intelligence in medical treatment.
The Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ASTP/ONC) released a request for information (PDF) seeking public feedback on the actions it can take to establish a "forward-leaning, industry-supportive, and secure approach to accelerate the adoption and use of as part of clinical care."
The RFI builds on the recently published HHS AI Strategy and the administration’s overall AI policy framework, Steve Posnack, principal deputy assistant secretary for technology policy and principal deputy national coordinator for health IT, wrote in a blog post this week.
The HHS AI Strategy focuses on the use of AI internally across HHS operations, while the RFI seeks input on the use of AI in clinical care.
"HHS is especially interested in comments from those building AI tools for clinical settings, those buying or implementing AI tools for clinical settings, and those who want to use AI in clinical care but face barriers. Your input will inform how HHS uses three major levers: regulation, reimbursement, and research and development," Posnack wrote.
Comments on the RFI will be due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
"In general, HHS seeks feedback on ways in which these approaches can be most effectively applied to support the rapid adoption and use of AI in clinical care, to foster public trust and confidence in modern technology solutions, to reduce uncertainty that impedes AI innovation and to align federal incentives so that AI is deployed in ways that enhance productivity, reduce burden, lower health care costs, and improve health outcomes for patients, caregivers, and communities," HHS officials wrote.
On the regulatory front, the ASTP/ONC said it wants to establish a regulatory posture on AI that is "well understood, predictable, and proportionate to any risks presented to enable rapid innovation while protecting patients and the confidentiality of their identifiable health information, and maintaining public trust," agency officials said.
The HHS wants to hear ideas on payment policy changes that give payers the incentive and ability to promote access to high-value AI clinical interventions, foster competition among clinical care AI tool builders and accelerate access to and affordability of AI tools for clinical care, the department said.
"Given the inherent flaws in legacy payment systems, we seek to ensure that the potential promises of AI innovations are not diminished through inertia and instead such payment systems are modernized to meet the needs of a changing healthcare system," the HHS said.
The HHS also wants input on how the agency can invest in research and development, including public-private partnerships and cooperative research and development agreements, to integrate AI in care delivery and create new, long-term market opportunities.
The department and its health tech agency also want to hear from the industry about major barriers to AI innovation and adoption, administrative hurdles at healthcare organizations that slow adoption and regulatory or payment policies that should be created or existing ones that should be changed to help incentivize adoption.
The HHS also acknowledged that the use of AI in clinical care raises novel legal and implementation issues that challenge existing governance and accountability structures, relating to liability, indemnification, privacy and security. The department wants to know what role it should play in addressing these issues.
The department also wants feedback on promising AI evaluation methods, pre- and post-deployment, for AI tools in clinical care that are nonmedical devices.
The HHS also wants public comment on private sector activities around accreditation, certification, industry-driven testing and credentialing for AI tools.
Healthcare industry experts and patients also are encouraged to share their thoughts on healthcare challenges that could be addressed by AI tools as well as their concerns about the use of AI in clinical care.