Healthcare AI Overreach 🤔

Janson Silvers  0:02  
Welcome to Healthcare Policy pop. I'm Janson Silvers. It's Tuesday, November 14 2023. Today's pop topics talk about artificial intelligence in healthcare continues. As you probably already know, recently, the President signed a wide ranging executive order about all things AI. Naomi Lopez is the founder of Nexus policy consulting, has been working to educate policymakers on AI. Lopez says the actions of the White House are concerning. 

Naomi Lopez  0:32  
There's always an inclination to regulate to grab power to pick winners. And I think this is no exception. And the level of fear mongering that's occurring is absolutely astonishing, quite frankly, it's irresponsible.

Janson Silvers  0:48  
Lopez agrees that we need to be careful with AI, but she doesn't believe this is the right way to go about it.

Naomi Lopez  0:53  
Yes, there are concerns about AI, and we do need to be thoughtful and deliberate. But the answer is not for Washington to control this new technology. And that is why Joe Grogan and I formed this AI and healthcare working group. So that it would be very clear that there are alternative views from very serious healthcare policy thinkers who have been inside of government and outside of government, and that there are other pathways that we can explore to make sure that AI is being used in a responsible manner that patients remain protected. 

Janson Silvers  1:34  
Lopez says the drug development process is stuck in the past, especially for those with rare diseases, and AI could push it into the future.

Naomi Lopez  1:43  
So think about using AI to create a bespoke treatment for an individual patient that doesn't have to go through the entire clinical trial process, doesn't have to go through all of the hurdles, but yet still maintains the integrity of patient safety, patient consent, physician recommendations and involvement, institutional review, you know, it is possible to do that with AI today.

Janson Silvers  2:07  
Politics aside, Lopez is very encouraged about what AI can do for healthcare, and especially for patients.

Naomi Lopez  2:15  
I'm very optimistic about the future of healthcare and applying technology, whether it be telehealth, wearables, constant monitoring for certain patients, clinical development, and monitoring patients after treatment, I'm extraordinarily optimistic about the opportunities to provide the right treatment to the right patient at the right time. We have the technologies today to do just that.

Janson Silvers  2:43  
You can hear more from Lopez on this week's Patient's Rising Podcast. A link to that episode is in the show notes. On Friday, we celebrated Veterans Day with the rest of the country. And on that note, we wanted to give an update on a bill we've been tracking all year, the Jacks Act. The Jacks Act is a bipartisan bill that would amend the military records of women veterans who were part of cultural support teams in the Middle East to recognize them for their combat service. This would allow those women veterans to be properly recognized and receive benefits and critical health services, which they aren't currently getting. Last week, Congressman Darrell Eisah of California testified before a House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee to urge support of the legislation. Eisah said quote, It is the overdue correction of an error that has denied hundreds of female combat veterans, the recognition they are owed for their brave service to our country. Find the link to his testimony and the bill in the show notes. That's all for today. We're back on Thursday for another Healthcare Policy Pop a resource of Patient Rising Now. I'm Janson Silvers, have a great day.