The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has launched a new initiative to determine best practices and standards for AI technology with the help of leading digital health companies like Fitbit, Google and IBM, as well as industry groups and nonprofits including AdvaMed, the American Telemedicine Association and the Brookings Institution.
While AI has been held up as a key part of healthcare’s future, there are still many unanswered questions about how exactly the technology should be implemented in a way that is ethical and engenders trust among providers and patients.
CTA’s working group, which includes more than 30 different organizations, is an effort to bring stakeholders together to create common understanding around AI definitions, proper data management and ethical considerations like bias and privacy.
“AI will boost our wellness and health care by improving outcomes, expanding treatment options and providing cost-cutting efficiencies,” CTA President and CEO Gary Shapiro said in a statement. “We must seize the opportunity to realize the potential of AI ethically, strategically and with clear goals.”
The group will be co-chaired by executives at Philips and remote monitoring startup CarePredict and meet at the organization’s Technology & Standards Spring Forum next month.
Justin Barad, the CEO of member company Osso VR, applauded the efforts of CTA to include both large and small companies in its effort to improve innovation within healthcare.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
“AI is becoming ubiquitous in healthcare technologies yet we currently lack standards to describe, validate and most importantly trust it,” Barad said.
“As a healthcare technology startup utilizing AI, Osso VR is proud to be a part of the conversation to make sure that our industry moves in a unified and positive direction towards incorporating these technologies in order bring value to our patients.
The CTA working group shares many characteristics with the Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare which officially launched at this year’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.
That organization – which has a membership roster mainly made of up of biopharma companies – also has a stated intention to establish industry standards for AI, while setting clear expectations for the technology’s potential and working with regulatory bodies to help usher in regulations that can help drive AI adoption.
Photo: Pixtum, Getty Images
