Biden to HHS: Create an AI task force to keep health care 'safe, secure and trustworthy'

Artificial intelligence is the new frontier of health care, offering great promise but also potential safety and security risks. The Biden administration early this week addressed these concerns with a sweeping executive order establishing new safety, security and equity standards for artificial intelligence, including its use within the health-care industry.

The executive order directs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to establish an AI task force within one year. It is charged with developing a strategic plan that includes policies and possibly regulatory action on responsible deployment of AI and AI-enabled technologies in the health-care sector, including research and discovery; drug and device safety; health-care delivery and financing; and public health. This includes:

• The development, maintenance and use of predictive and generative AI-enabled technologies in health-care delivery and financing, including quality measurement; performance improvement program integrity; benefits administration; patient experience; and appropriate human oversight of AI-generated output;
• Identifying uses of AI that promote workplace efficiency and satisfaction, and the development and maintenance of documentation to help users determine appropriate and safe uses of AI in local health-care settings; and
• Monitoring the long-term safety and performance of AI-enabled technologies, including clinically relevant or significant modifications and performance across population groups, and incorporating equity principles in AI-enabled technologies.

To protect personally identifiable information, the executive order calls for incorporating safety, privacy and security standards into the software-development lifecycle, including measures to address AI-enhanced cybersecurity threats. The executive order also directs HHS to consider appropriate actions to advance compliance and understanding of federal nondiscrimination laws by health providers that receive federal financial assistance, and its relationship to AI.

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Finally, the executive order directs HHS, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and Veterans Affairs, to establish an AI safety program that establishes a common framework for approaches to identifying and capturing clinical errors resulting from AI deployed in health care settings, as well as specifications for a central tracking repository for associated incidents that cause harm to patients, caregivers or other parties.

“The actions that President Biden directed today are vital steps forward in the U.S.’s approach on safe, secure and trustworthy AI,” the White House said. “More action will be required, and the administration will continue to work with Congress to pursue bipartisan legislation to help America lead the way in responsible innovation.”