IHI Lucian Leape Institute Releases Artificial Intelligence (AI) Recommendations for Patient Safety and Health System Leaders
May 15 2024 - 12:30PM
Business Wire
Comprehensive AI Analysis and Guidance Unveiled
at Annual IHI Patient Safety Congress
The IHI Lucian Leape Institute (LLI), a think tank within the
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) that provides strategic
vision for improving patient and workforce safety, today released,
“Patient Safety and Artificial Intelligence: Opportunities and
Challenges for Care Delivery.” The comprehensive report, with
insights from nearly 30 leading experts, includes a detailed
analysis of the safety benefits, risks, and recommendations for
generative artificial intelligence (genAI) applications.
In January 2024, the LLI-convened expert panel, which was made
possible with the generous support of the Gordon and Betty Moore
Foundation, examined three clinical applications for genAI in
health care: documentation support, clinical decision support, and
patient-facing chatbots. The report includes detailed use cases
about these applications, as well as strategies to mitigate the
risks of genAI to patients and patient and workforce safety, and
guardrails to consider. It builds on the learnings from an IHI
rapid-cycle innovation project conducted last year about genAI and
how it is impacting the safety and quality of care.
“This report is a much-needed deep dive into the implications of
AI on the safety and quality of care, as well as how AI is
impacting health care professionals responsible for delivering that
care,” said Kedar Mate, MD, President and CEO of IHI, and
President of the IHI Lucian Leape Institute. “As AI continues
to evolve, our focus must stay trained on how it can enhance – not
replace – human clinical skills and improve our ability to deliver
safe and equitable care.”
The expert panel identified many reasons to be enthusiastic
about the potential for genAI, including reducing clinician burnout
and cognitive load, facilitating the provision of evidence-based
practices, improving diagnostic accuracy, and reducing the costs of
care. Potential risks are also identified in the report, including
the depersonalization of care, the possibility of genAI producing
inaccurate recommendations, the challenges of integrating AI into
existing workflows, the potential for biased outputs, and workforce
deskilling.
To help mitigate the risks and seize the benefits, the expert
panel offers six recommendations to guide the ongoing development
of genAI tools and their integration into clinical care delivery –
each recommendation is described in detail in the report:
- Serve and safeguard the patient
- Learn with, engage, and listen to clinicians
- Evaluate and ensure AI efficacy and freedom from bias
- Establish strict AI governance, oversight, and guidance both
for individual health delivery systems and the federal
government
- Be intentional with the design, implementation, and ongoing
evaluation of AI tools
- Engage in collaborative learning across health care
systems
Knowing that everyone has a different role to play in navigating
genAI's promise and potential risks, the expert panel also
developed specific recommendations and mitigation strategies for
key audiences. Detailed resources are available for each of these
key groups:
- Patients and Patient Advocates
- Clinicians
- Safety and Quality Professionals
- Health Care Systems
- GenAI Developers
- Researchers
- Regulators and Policymakers
Release of this report coincides with a keynote address
delivered today at the IHI Patient Safety Congress: “Hope, Hype,
and Perils of AI: What does it mean for Safety?” Dr. Kaveh
Shojania, who participated in the keynote and co-chairs the LLI
expert panel, commented, “The reasons for the hype over genAI are
clear: instant availability of expert level decision support for
diagnosis and treatment, major time savings related to clinical
documentation, and other exciting clinical applications. Yet, there
are risks as well, including reinforcing harmful biases, job
losses, and subtle but important commercial influences on decision
making. More than any prior technological advancement in health
care, the unique power of genAI requires that we temper our
enthusiasm with both caution and skepticism.”
Hundreds of health care professionals from around the world were
present for the keynote and remain onsite for the 2024 IHI Patient
Safety Congress, which is taking place May 14-16 in Orlando,
Florida. This year’s gathering features 150 sessions and posters
led by more than 100 health care leaders and experts.
The IHI Lucian Leape Institute (LLI) was formed in 2007 by the
National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF, which merged with IHI in
2017). Composed of international thought leaders with a common
interest in patient safety, LLI functions as a think tank to
identify new approaches to improving patient safety; call for the
innovation necessary to expedite the work; create significant,
sustainable improvements in culture, process, and outcomes; and
encourage key stakeholders to assume significant roles in advancing
patient safety.
About the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is an independent
not-for-profit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
For more than 30 years, IHI has used improvement science to advance
and sustain better outcomes in health and health systems across the
world. IHI brings awareness of safety and quality to millions,
catalyzes learning and the systematic improvement of care, develops
solutions to previously intractable challenges, and mobilizes
health systems, communities, regions, and nations to reduce harm
and deaths. IHI collaborates with a growing community to spark
bold, inventive ways to improve the health of individuals and
populations. IHI generates optimism, harvests fresh ideas, and
supports anyone, anywhere who wants to profoundly change health and
health care for the better. Learn more at ihi.org.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240515388955/en/
PRESS: Joanna Clark, CXO Communication
joanna@cxocommunication.com (207) 712-1404