From the November 2021 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
As the healthcare industry continues to grow more familiar with what artificial intelligence is, as we as what it isn’t, new research is providing an increasingly clear-eyed look at how these advanced processing systems could fundamentally change medicine. Here, presented in chronological order, are the top ten biggest AI stories of the year from our Daily News online.
Jurors may be less likely to find physicians liable for harm from AI than commonly thought
One reason physicians might be reluctant to utilize AI is for fear of being found liable by a jury in the event that something were to go wrong, but research published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine in January suggests those concerns may not be as warranted as commonly believed.
"Many such cases would never reach a jury, but for one that did, the answer depends on the views and testimony of medical experts and the decision-making of lay juries," said Kevin Tobia, assistant professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington D.C., in a statement about his team’s results.
For the study, hypotheticals were provided to a U.S. representative sample of 2,000 adults, which involved a physician choosing to follow or disregard a drug dosage recommendation provided by an AI system. In each scenario, the physician’s decision resulted in harm to the patient.
Participants were then asked for their opinion about whether the medical decision in each case was one that could have been made by “most physicians” or “a reasonable physician” faced with similar circumstances. Participant responses were used to measure whether they were more or less inclined to determine that the physician’s conduct fell within or outside of Standard Care — the legal basis for medical malpractice liability.
Based on participant responses, the researchers concluded that when AI recommends advice that is in line with standard care a physician can reduce their exposure to liability by accepting it, but that rejecting non-standard care advice from an AI in favor of a decision based on standard care, does not provide a physician with a similar advantage.
AI held in greater esteem among providers than two years ago: report
Ninety percent of U.S. healthcare providers have an AI/automation strategy in place, up from 53% in Q3 2019.
That’s what marketing firm Sage Growth Partners and AI consulting firm Olive said in their March report which indicates growth in provider understanding and adoption of AI over the last 18 months.
