orDevelopment I is at a flash point; developers from some of the world’s largest and most successful companies are leaving high-paying jobs to start health technology companies. Providers, regulators and industry leaders are (understandably) looking for regulatory frameworks to ensure AI applications are reliable and patient-centric.
Not all regulatory frameworks will allow AI to be truly revolutionary. At a recent hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, congressional leaders expressed concern about a third-party review process for AI proposed by the nonprofit Coalition for Health AI (CHAI), the leadership of which is run by representatives from existing companies such as Google, Microsoft. , and the Mayo Clinic. This review process would put the big tech companies, which are themselves developing AI models for healthcare, in control of market entry.
As pointed out in the session Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) and Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), there is strong potential for regulatory capture inherent in this approach.
By seeking to regulate the health AI industry on behalf of the federal government, large established tech companies could create an uneven playing field for newer or smaller companies. Startups innovate quickly, while incumbents can struggle to keep pace. Adding additional layers of review of startups’ intellectual property by the incumbents they’re competing against does nothing for security, while also slowing real innovation that can change the lives of patients and doctors for the better.
An alternative framework is that of localized quality assurance. An example of this framework has been developed by the Health AI Partnership, a collaboration of decentralization-minded individuals from academic medical centers that aims to arm health systems and others seeking to incorporate health AI into their operations with the tools and technical expertise to allowing them to make their own decisions about which AI models work best for the patients they serve.
Instead of handing over control of sensitive data review to large tech companies trying to compete in the AI space, localized quality assurance would allow participating organizations the ability to validate AI health applications in their data sets, determining which technologies are most effective for the population. they serve. This framework will provide resources to allow each provider to operate its own review process, rather than consolidating these reviews with a handful of large technology companies and academic medical centers.
Democratized AI access and localized security are gaining ground. In addition to the Health AI Partnership tools, Epic, an electronic health records company, recently launched an open source tool available on Github for providers to validate an AI model. A world of multiple voluntary safety tools is one that allows the most innovative companies to compete on the merits of their products and enables clinicians to evaluate these tools based on efficacy and utility in real-world clinical settings.
Fully democratizing AI review, of course, requires more support for practices large and small. Not every clinic has the bandwidth or expertise to adopt in-house AI review tools, making it more difficult for them to evaluate AI models for their specific patient population and clinical needs. Without additional support, the full democratization of AI access may be delayed.
An open and competitive market is essential for technology development. The winners of AI in healthcare have yet to be determined, and large corporations are trying to put their finger on the scales. In the ongoing battle between big tech and small tech, calcifying the market with regulatory capture that favors incumbents and drives the smartest people, their ideas, and their sources of capital out of health care is not the way to go. continued.
AI has the potential to improve care for millions of Americans, reduce the burden on physicians, and mitigate health care disparities. But innovators must test and validate their new ideas at a rapid clip. Large corporations have a strong incentive to capture the market under the guise of security. It is critical to prevent this, allowing health systems and providers to evaluate solutions for their practices and unique patient populations, and fostering innovation and investment along the way.
Julie Yoo is a general partner in the Bio + Health team at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
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