Monday, July 1, 2024

Radiologists offer AI stamp of approval

The ideas and innovators shaping health care
Jul 01, 2024 View in browser
 
Future Pulse

By Daniel Payne, Toni Odejimi, Carmen Paun, Ruth Reader and Erin Schumaker

FORWARD THINKING

SAN FRANCISCO - AUGUST 18:  Dr. Edward Sickles MD (R) and Larisa Gurilnik RT look at films of breast x-rays at the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center August 18, 2005 in San Francisco, California. The UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center continues to use the latest research and technology to battle cancer and was recently rated 16th best cancer center in the nation by US News and World Report.    (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Radiologists are already using AI to help them diagnose patients. | Getty Images

Radiologists are already using artificial intelligence to help them more accurately diagnose patients with X-rays and other medical scans. They’re now moving to increase their role in vetting the tools.

How so? The American College of Radiology, the professional society for doctors in the specialty, is launching a program to certify radiology practices as adept at using AI in their work.

Checking the systems is a necessity, said Dr. Christoph Wald, chair of the ACR’s Commission on Informatics.

“Even a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-cleared AI product must be tested locally to ensure it works safely and as intended. Practice leaders must put safeguards in place to maximize the benefit of AI products while minimizing risk,” he said in a release, adding that the radiologists’ certification program would be “low cost” and “efficient.”

To join the program, organizations will have to take certain steps, including:

— Creating a governance group

— Documenting algorithm use and regularly reviewing AI systems’ output

— Complying with safety standards

— Participating in a registry to measure performance.

Six providers were named members at the launch, including the Mayo Clinic Care Network, the Cleveland Clinic and Penn Medicine.

Wide angle: The radiologists aren’t the only ones looking to create a system that would assure that AI systems work well in health care.

A number of others — including some government agencies — are trying to start assurance labs, create validation tools or mandate new rules for the technology.

 

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WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Washington, D.C.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Washington, D.C. | Shawn Zeller/POLITICO

This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care.

A dentist has received FDA approval to test if rapamycin can treat gum disease and, in the process, slow aging, NPR reports. The drug was first approved for transplant patients in the 1990s but some doctors prescribe it off label to treat age-related conditions.

Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com, or Toni Odejimi at aodejimi@politico.com.

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WORLD VIEW

European Parliament.

The EU's parliament is under pressure to regulate AI. | John Thys/AFP via Getty Images

European human rights activists have formed a group to ensure artificial intelligence in health care prioritizes “transparency, accountability, and fairness” for the patients it affects, our European colleagues report.

The new Digital Rights and Health Alliance will push for the implementation of the EU’s new AI Act, which will subject artificial intelligence tools for health care to extra scrutiny beyond what other medical devices receive. The EU Parliament passed the law in March, but many of the regulatory details aren’t yet set.

Who’s in the alliance? EuroHealthNet, European Digital Rights, the European Public Health Alliance, Global Health Alliance and Health Action International, as well as individual researchers.

 

Understand 2024’s big impacts with Pro’s extensive Campaign Races Dashboard, exclusive insights, and key coverage of federal- and state-level debates. Focus on policy. Learn more.

 
 
DANGER ZONE

Smoke and steam rise from a coal processing plant.

Air pollution remains a major health threat. | Sam McNeil/AP Photo

Exposure to air pollution was the second-highest risk factor for deaths worldwide in 2021 after high blood pressure, killing more than 8 million people, according to a new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

The study found that pollution kills more people than smoking or dietary issues. Hotter weather due to climate change has made pollution worse, with the level of ozone, another air pollutant, rising as temperatures heat up.

The most common form of air pollution is fine particulate matter, caused by processes such as agricultural production and the burning of fossil fuels.

Lower-income countries, like those in Southeast Asia and Africa, suffered the most.

Elderly adults, children and pregnant people are those at most risk.

What’s next? Michael Brauer, a professor at the institute who worked on the study, said countries need to take aggressive steps to reduce pollution.

Some lower-income countries have created air-quality organizations over the past few years to try to get a handle on the problem.

 

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Carmen Paun @carmenpaun

Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne

Ruth Reader @RuthReader

Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker

 

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