Key Considerations for Physicians Evaluating AI Products in Healthcare
Dr. Deepti Pandita emphasizes key vetting criteria for AI tools in healthcare.
Key Points
- • Physicians must thoroughly vet AI products before implementation.
- • Key considerations include clinical relevance, compliance, and usability.
- • AI tools should be FDA-approved and adhere to privacy laws.
- • Data scientists should be involved in evaluating AI tools.
As artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly integrates into clinical practice, Dr. Deepti Pandita, chief medical information officer at UCI Health, offers crucial guidance for physicians evaluating these tools. In a recent update, she emphasizes the necessity for thorough vetting of AI products prior to their implementation.
Physicians should focus on several key factors, including clinical relevance, transparency, compliance, and usability. Dr. Pandita asserts that it is paramount for AI tools to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and comply with patient privacy laws, ensuring that patient data is stored and used responsibly. She states, "Because AI tools directly impact patient care, safety and clinical decision-making, it’s important that physicians ask questions to ensure that the AI solution is clinically relevant, evidence-based, transparent, compliant and usable."
Moreover, Dr. Pandita suggests involving a data scientist during the evaluation process to audit input features that drive AI predictions. This comprehensive approach can help maintain high patient care standards. Her insights are drawn from her extensive background in medical informatics and her contributions to national guidelines on AI technologies in healthcare, highlighting her commitment to improving clinician efficiency and patient outcomes.