Madyson Fitzgerald | Stateline.org (TNS)
Judy Schmidt, a nurse at the Community Medical Center in Toms River, New Jersey, recalls the beeping monitors attached to critical patients in the intensive care unit as a regular part of the fast-paced activity.
Reflecting on her work from about ten years ago, Schmidt acknowledges that those machines were using early forms of artificial intelligence to analyze and monitor the patients’ health.
According to Schmidt, who is the CEO of the New Jersey State Nurses Association, artificial intelligence has been utilized in health care for many years, even before it became widely known to the public.
Currently, certain electronic health records are designed to notify providers when patients might be showing signs of a serious illness. Additionally, in medical education, instructors are increasingly relying on simulations involving mannequins programmed to imitate different scenarios, such as a childbirth, she noted.
The rapid development of these systems, now even being used in surgery, raises practical and ethical concerns for the providers working with this technology, according to Schmidt. robotics Experts believe AI technology can enhance the health care industry by automating administrative tasks, providing virtual nursing support, and more. AI systems can predict whether a patient is likely to deteriorate while in the hospital. Virtual assistant chatbots in services allow for remote consultations, and more health care providers may start using in the examination room.
However, some nurses worry that the lack of laws regarding AI's use in hospitals and means there are insufficient protections for individuals who could be harmed by the technology's errors. telehealth Schmidt emphasized the importance of human involvement in interpreting AI data for actual patients, whether in a hospital, nursing home, or at home. robotics State lawmakers have been slow to establish regulations for the use of AI, according to Richard Ridge, an assistant professor of nursing at the University of Virginia. As the technology advances, most health care workers are guided by the policies of their own hospital or practice, which can differ.
Ridge also indicated that legislators need to not only educate themselves about AI but also consider safeguards for patients within systems that use the technology, stating that nurses should be involved in these discussions. beyond Ridge emphasized the value of nurses' perspective in health care discussions to help policymakers and decision-makers understand the patient's point of view.
Ridge, who leads a panel on workforce issues for the Virginia Nurses Association, stressed the importance of including nurses in any policies related to AI in health care.
Several states have proposed bills regarding artificial intelligence in health care, but a survey by Stateline found that only one has been enacted: a Georgia law requiring practitioners using AI to be trained and certified.
that permits the use of artificial intelligence tools in eye examinations.
Pennsylvania bill
that’s currently in a House committee would mandate insurers to reveal if they are utilizing AI-based algorithms to assess claims for medical procedures necessity.
Pennsylvania state Rep. Arvind Venkat, a Democrat who is sponsoring and a physician, stated that with the expansion of artificial intelligence, it can be utilized to determine if treatments or drugs are not covered by a patient’s insurance. law “One issue we've seen with AI is that the data enters the AI platform, a decision is made, and it is produced, but that decision is only as reliable as the data used to train the platform,” Venkat commented. “Current biases are being strengthened by the use of artificial intelligence, especially in the realm of health insurance.”
One Illinois bill would establish the maximum number of patients that could be assigned to a registered nurse in specific situations. Nurses at health care facilities using AI could override the technology’s suggestions if they believe it is in the patient’s best interest.
The American Nurses Association’s code of ethics, followed by all nurses in the country,
states that advanced technologies, including AI, do not substitute nursing skills or judgment.
An position statement , the organization stated that nurses “are responsible for being knowledgeable about and ensuring the proper use of AI” for their patients. It also mentioned the essentiality of nurses’ involvement in advocating for an AI governance framework that holds technology developers accountable.
Dan Weberg, the vice president of the American Nurses Association\California and an expert in the connection between technology and nursing, mentioned that rapid developments in AI are complicating the issues. states “We've been utilizing algorithms and machine-generated insights for several years,” Weberg said, “but now, it’s becoming more urgent due to the complexity. It’s becoming more sophisticated with more tools and similar things.”
In a Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a nonprofit organization advocating for privacy rights in the use of new technologies, expressed hope that in the absence of federal regulations, state and local policymakers will begin creating policies influenced by those of the European Union.The EU AI Act, intended to become the world’s first set of
to regulate artificial intelligence, could serve as the global standard for AI oversight. It aims to define artificial intelligence and establish regulations for governing the technology across the EU, including prohibited AI activities.
While recognizing the significant advantages of the technology, the legislation
establishes rules for public and private entities — including the health care sector — to use risk assessments, testing, and more to ensure AI systems are functioning properly and protecting the rights of their users.
The EU’s artificial intelligence liability laws , proposed in September 2022, would lower the burden of proof for victims to demonstrate damage caused by an AI system.
According to Cahn, people in technology policy are really worried right now. New AI systems are being used in many industries, like health care, without the necessary laws to protect individuals if something goes wrong. establishes Cahn believes that we shouldn't get rid of AI systems, but we shouldn't ignore their dangers. He thinks policymakers should consider the impact of AI from all perspectives, including the datasets used to train AI that might have biases leading to discrimination.
Maintaining trust between providers and patients as AI advances is a challenge. Jennifer Shepherd, vice president of the Virginia Nurses Association, said many patients are afraid of dealing with a robot instead of a human practitioner. She thinks providers should work with AI systems from a human-centered perspective. directiveShepherd suggested using the term 'human-centered AI' instead of just 'AI in health care' or 'evidence-based AI' to make it less scary. This is where much of their focus lies.
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Stateline is part of . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Some nurses are worried that the lack of laws about AI's use in hospitals means there are no protections for individuals who may be harmed by the tech's mistakes.
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