Beware the Ides of March. The next line should be “…but only if you read Shakespeare.” Or maybe “…because spring allergies are worse than ever.” Is this doom and gloom really necessary? I mean, there are things to whine about, for sure. But there are some nice moments of people coming together this week. We explain this odd bit of positivity in the One Thoughtful Paragraph below.
Read below for news about people coming together about health data interoperability or AI in healthcare:
- Four different FDA subdivisions jointly published a paper to provide greater transparency on how the FDA is focusing on the development and use of AI across the medical device product life cycle. FDA Commissioner’s blog post here.
- At HIMSS, several technology vendors came together to show how interoperable data exchange can prevent patient falls in hospitals, featuring Rauland’s Responder Enterprise system, Stryker’s beds, Midmark’s Real-Time Location System sensors, Epic’s H.R. system, Mobile Heartbeat’s mobile communications, and pCare’s virtual nursing.
- The European Parliament overwhelmingly approved the world’s first AI law, making for interesting chit-chat over biscuits and tea. For instance, Every E.U. country must establish at least one “regulatory sandbox”so companies can test and validate their AI systems before putting them on the market. There is also a strict prohibition of using AI to exploit vulnerabilities due to a person’s age, disability, or socio-economic situation. The penalties are no joke: fines for non-compliance can reach $38 million or 7% of a violator’s global revenues, whichever is higher. See the actual act’s language here.
Plenty of positive, coming-together moments happened last Sunday night at the Oscars. Despite the Barbie movie having to make way for the arguably more important Oppenheimer film, it seemed like the Academy and A-list crowd wanted to come together to enjoy the silly weirdness of I’m Just Ken. Clearly inspired by this happy display, health policy leaders agreed this week on some basic truths about AI in healthcare. Specifically, the Consumer Technology Association brought together representatives of payers, providers, medical device companies, and other influential organizations like DiME and CHAI, who agreed on an educational piece for policymakers about their common understanding about the use of AI in healthcare. Another group of powerful payers and providers who call themselves the “Common Health Coalition” helpfully said some beautiful things about collaborating to improve public health systems to better prepare for the inevitable next public health emergency. Let us pause, please, to recognize how challenging it is to get payers and providers to agree on anything right now – and yet, they first agreed on a full two pages of AI terminology and then on what to do about improving public health systems. Wow! So, wipe your nose, take some antihistamines, and realize that the Ides of March are not just about the trials and tribulations of Julius Caesar. These days, people are joyously coming together to hear what people wearing togas have to say.
