Artificial intelligence (AI) has made its way into nearly every industry during the last few years, and healthcare is no exception. It’s impossible to ignore its potential — from clinical documentation efficiencies and virtual chatbots to predictive analytics and medical imaging analysis — and professionals are feeling increasing pressure to adopt these tools.1

However, a lack of regulations and guidance with AI leaves some employees concerned about their safety and privacy.2 As AI continues to evolve and shape the world, employers must plan carefully and create strategies for AI use rather than being driven by a fear of missing out (FOMO) on its benefits.

Most professionals are exploring AI to streamline tedious and resource-intensive functions. For physicians, AI tools offer promise with automated notetaking, enhanced diagnostic accuracy, and new ways to improve health literacy for patients.3 These kinds of efficiencies could help nurses and clinicians focus more on patient needs than on administrative tasks.

Simplifying the Process

For disability case managers, AI can help simplify the communication of complex health information, reduce time spent on utilization reviews, and improve the accuracy of claims processing. These advances may allow for better decision-making and faster employee support. However, they also carry potential issues and liabilities. Since the health sector regularly deals with patient health and protected information, data privacy and security for patient data are even more important. Additionally, employees nationwide worry about AI’s effect on job security and its presentation of misleading, incorrect, or biased information as fact. These potential liabilities explain why many are concerned about allowing AI to be used in decision-making capacities, and why organizations rushing into AI implementation may end up hurting their employees.

So how can employers use AI without getting caught up in the FOMO rush?

The most important issues to consider are transparency and oversight. Before launching an AI tool, employers should ask who is accountable if it fails? What data is the AI trained on? And how will we explain its decisions? If employers want the best results, it’s important to keep the concerns of patients and employees in mind as they develop and use AI. If an organization is planning to implement AI on the front or back end of a product, like chatbots or improved user search algorithms, it must integrate input from employees, users and patients as it is built.

Liability Concerns

AI products can also present a liability issue for employers and/or partners, so running them by legal teams is the best way to reduce potential issues. Human oversight of AI processes is also important, particularly if AI is used in decision-making. Some companies have approached this issue by adopting an AI review board or an AI ethics committee,4 which can address biases in data or use, review AI projects before launch, oversee privacy and data governance, and ensure transparency.

AI has the potential to improve the lives of patients and employees in every industry if organizations take the time to implement it in safe and ethical ways.