{"id":18678,"date":"2024-07-02T09:30:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T14:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/?p=18678"},"modified":"2025-01-21T15:36:58","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T21:36:58","slug":"augmented-intelligence-in-health-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/augmented-intelligence-in-health-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Augmented intelligence in health care"},"content":{"rendered":"

The American Medical Association (AMA) recently released a report<\/a> on augmented intelligence (AI) in health care. Clinical informaticist and senior fellow for Innovation at OSF HealthCare, Jonathan Handler, MD<\/a> contributed to the report.<\/p>\n

The report aims to create a shared language for AI in health care and emphasizes the AMA\u2019s stated commitment \u201cto ensuring the physician voice is leading health care AI forward.\u201d It covers both current and future uses of AI, including the role of generative AI in health care diagnosis and automation. It also discusses the potential risks that doctors need to be aware of, such as AI bias in health care and privacy concerns. The report provides key questions to help doctors navigate the use of AI in their practices responsibly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the world recognizes that artificial intelligence is a really important advancement for medicine, one that’s disruptive and has the potential for both benefit and harm. We want to make sure that it creates the greatest benefit possible for everyone, most importantly, for the patients that we’re serving,\u201d says Dr. Handler.<\/p>\n

Significance of the AMA report<\/h2>\n

The topic of AI is trending given the recent introduction of generative AI and large language models like ChatGPT to the general public.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese things are now more accessible to non-technical people so they can actually use it and see how impressive the results can be,\u201d says Dr. Handler. \u201cWe can all see the potential, and when we use it and don\u2019t get a good result, we can also all see the potential downsides.\u201d<\/p>\n

AI in health care is not new, but its use is continually expanding, redefining the delivery of care. The report notes that AI has been used in health care since the mid-20th century, mostly in the form of rules-based algorithms that rely on human input to create the desired output.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany things we use commonly in medicine today depend upon or are enhanced by algorithms. Soon after becoming comfortable with technology, many of us forget that it\u2019s using algorithms. The pulse oximeter that provides information about a patient\u2019s oxygen status, the ECG and cardiac monitors, the MRI and CT scan machines \u2013 all these and many more produce data that are processed and made useful by algorithms,\u201d explains Dr. Handler.<\/p>\n

Augmented vs. artificial intelligence<\/h2>\n

The need for transparency comes as generative AI in health care advances and has the potential to play a bigger role in the clinical decision-making process.<\/p>\n

The report explains the difference between artificial intelligence and augmented intelligence. The AMA prefers the term augmented intelligence \u201cto reflect its perspective that artificial intelligence tools and services support rather than explicitly replace human decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n

AI in health care is already playing a huge role in making some health care delivery tasks easier. Many health care systems already use generative AI for tasks, such as clinicians using real-time voice-to-text transcription when creating their clinical notes. This creates more time for the clinician-patient interaction and a better overall patient experience.<\/p>\n

When considering decision support capabilities, like an AI suggesting a medical diagnosis or an AI translation of medical data, the risks of AI in health care become more obvious.<\/p>\n

Human interaction with the results of generative AI in health care is key. One of the cons of AI in health care is being too trusting of the data it generates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to educate people to be careful and not to put more trust in AI models than is warranted. We must help improve AI so it can better meet our needs and those of our patients. Ultimately, we need reliable, trustworthy, safe, fair and effective AI,\u201d describes Dr. Handler. \u201cRight now, in healthcare we have to lean a little bit more on people because not all of our processes and technologies are fully optimized. However, I think our people, processes and technologies are evolving quickly and I have high hopes for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The impact of AI at OSF<\/h2>\n
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Want to collaborate on AI?<\/p>\n

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The Advanced Analytics team was created in 2013 as part of the OSF Innovation ecosystem to use complex data modeling techniques to serve care delivery teams and their patients. With experts in data science, automation and artificial intelligence, Advanced Analytics collaborates to understand problems, define focus questions, prepare data, build effective models and implement solutions to support clinical actions.<\/p>\n

In 2021, to complement the Advanced Analytics team, OSF created what later became the Clinical Intelligence and Advanced Data Lab (CIADL), led by Dr. Handler and Roopa Foulger. The goal of CIADL is to create transformative innovations that help every patient receive a correct diagnosis, optimal therapy and achieve their best possible health in the shortest possible time.<\/p>\n

At OSF, the commitment to innovation includes the responsible use of AI. OSF has formed a multidisciplinary AI governance and leadership committee that supports the use of AI to help OSF provide health care with the greatest care and love.<\/p>\n

\u201cOSF wants to make sure that we’re not benefiting one group while harming another. We want to use AI to benefit everyone,\u201d says Dr. Handler.<\/p>\n

That benefit is clear across OSF in many ways.<\/p>\n