The use of artificial intelligence to support patient care, claims, claims management and other areas is rapidly increasing among insurers and hospitals.
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania lawmakers announced Monday that they plan to introduce legislation regulating the way artificial intelligence is used in the healthcare industry.
According to state officials, AI is being implemented quickly by insurance companies, hospitals and clinicians.
Arvind Venkat, Joe Hogan, Tarik Khan, Bridget Kosierowski and Greg Scott form a bipartisan group that plans to propose the law.
The law provides new regulations on how AI is used and reported by insurance companies, hospitals and clinicians. These groups need to provide patients and the public with transparency about how AI is used in businesses and practice environments.
“As the only doctor at the General Assembly, I have seen in real time the rapid growth of AI use in healthcare,” said Venkat, a Democrat who represents Allegheny County. “I am grateful to my bipartisan colleagues, including fellow health professionals who are participating in this law, to ensure that Pennsylvanians are confident that AI is being held responsible and effectively in the healthcare industry.”
To prevent clinicians from overreliance on AI, the law ensures that human decision makers make the ultimate decision based on individual assessments when AI is used by insurance companies, hospitals, or clinicians.
“AI certainly has the ability to enhance every aspect of human life, including the medical field, but it should not replace the expertise and judgment of medical clinicians,” said Scott, a Democrat in Montgomery County. “I embrace technology and use it every day, but as an EMT I know firsthand that to understand a person's medical history and needs, computer algorithms cannot fully evaluate.
“AI is a large part of our daily lives, so we have to make sure it's not overly dependent on our healthcare system,” said Hogan, a Republican representing Bucks County. “This law will ensure that there is still a human element in determining life and death decisions.”
The Act requires that the Department of Insurance and PA clinicians of the Department of Insurance by the Department of Insurance and PA clinicians have proven that bias and discrimination already prohibited by state law are minimized by providing evidence of AI usage and how that decision was made.
“It's bad enough to get unfair denials from insurance companies, but it's ridiculous to know that AI and not humans are making decisions,” said Khan, a Philadelphia Democrat. “I am proud to work with Dr. Venkat and other lawmakers on this bipartisan bill and help them take charge of patients.”
“As a nurse for nearly 30 years, we know that our healthcare system relies on experienced human decision-makers to perform assessments on a personal basis,” said Kosielowski, a Democrat in Lackawanna County. “With the introduction of AI, we need more experienced physicians and nurses to assess the accuracy of AI to ensure that bias and discrimination have not affected its findings. This bill provides the guardrails needed to protect patients and ensure that AI is responsible and effectively used in our commonwealth healthcare industry.”
Lawmakers are expected to formally introduce the law soon.
