How labs can responsibly use AI: New Joint Commission and CHAI guidance

In response to the growing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) across the U.S., the Joint Commission and the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) have teamed up to help health systems with the integration. Their first action was publishing best practice guidelines on September 17, detailed in a press release.

The document, titled "The Responsible Use of AI in Healthcare (RUAIH),” is the first of many the organizations intend to publish as part of their “Guidance on Responsible Use of AI in Healthcare” initiative. The guidelines highlight seven components of responsible AI use:

1. Creating policies and governance structures for AI use in your lab
2. Strategies for shielding patients’ information
3. Strategies for protecting all data
4. Continuous quality evaluation and improvement
5. Reporting all safety events related to AI
6. Continuous surveillance of AI-related bias and risks
7. Training and educating employees

Joint Commission’s president and CEO, Dr. Jonathan Perlin, stated in a press release, “We understand how quickly AI is changing healthcare – and at a scale I’ve never seen in my time as a leader. From the moment we announced our partnership with CHAI, we knew we wanted our partnership to reflect that fast-paced dynamic, while still delivering a thoughtful and streamlined guidance for healthcare organizations to self-govern with AI.”

Next steps in the initiative include workshops and playbooks. The playbooks will be an extension of the September 17^th guidance and will include any comments received regarding it. The Joint Commission also announced that they will be offering “voluntary AI certification” to its accredited and certified organizations upon completion of the playbooks.

CHAI’s CEO, Dr. Brian Anderson, emphasized in a press release, “The need is immediate, and we are eager to respond. This guidance and all subsequent playbooks are about keeping pace with the evolving field, not just by defining responsible AI, but by making it usable in hospitals and health systems across the country – no matter their resource level.”