Navigating the Rise of AI in Healthcare - Guidance from the FSMB
A Principled Approach to Harnessing Healthcare AI
Rapid artificial intelligence (AI) technology development presents exciting opportunities and challenges for healthcare. AI has the potential to aid physicians with diagnosis, treatment selection, clinical documentation, and other tasks to improve the quality, access, and efficiency of care. Integrating AI into clinical practice also introduces risks if deployed without proper guardrails and safeguards.
To help navigate this evolving AI landscape, the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) recently published a report titled "Navigating the Responsible and Ethical Incorporation of Artificial Intelligence into Clinical Practice." This comprehensive report guides physicians and state medical boards on promoting the safe, ethical, and effective use of AI tools to aid human judgment and accountability in medical practice.
Key Recommendations:
1. Education - Medical education should emphasize AI's applications, benefits, and risks to improve physician competence in leveraging these powerful tools appropriately.
2. Human Accountability—Physicians are ultimately responsible and accountable for how they use AI tools and any potential patient harm that may result.
3. Informed Consent & Privacy - Physicians should disclose their use of AI, obtain patient consent, and ensure data privacy safeguards are in place.
4. Proactive Oversight - Address liability concerns proactively and ensure AI governance adheres to ethical principles like transparency, equity, and patient autonomy.
5. Interdisciplinary Collaboration - Collaboration between physicians, health systems, data scientists, and regulators is vital for effective AI oversight.
The report emphasizes that AI tools should be used to enhance and focus human capabilities - not replace physician judgment and ethical responsibilities. We hold These ideals dear at Mercurial AI; we are building products to extend the abilities of medical professionals with guidance from medical professionals (our CEO is a former OR/ONC supporting nurse, plus we have expert oncologists advising our development). State medical boards must avoid over-regulating AI and instead govern its use through established ethical principles prioritizing patient wellbeing.
As AI capabilities rapidly evolve, this FSMB guidance provides a critical foundation for responsible stewardship over incorporating AI into patient care. By being proactive and principled, the medical community can harness AI's power to improve health while upholding professional standards and accountability.