Most patients want to know if AI is involved in their care
Most adults in the United States want to be informed if artificial intelligence is utilized for any part of their healthcare.
A new analysis published in JAMA Network Open details the attitudes of Americans toward the use of AI in medicine. The results could be especially impactful in the field of radiology, as the majority of FDA-approved algorithms target imaging needs.
“Patient notification, a longstanding minimum standard in clinical and research ethics, is central to data privacy laws and informed consent,” Jodyn Platt, PhD, from the Department of Learning Health Sciences at the University of Michigan Medical School, and colleagues noted in the paper. “As artificial intelligence applications increase across industries, policy frameworks highlight transparency via notification as a core component of appropriate AI use. However, requirements and policies for such notifications are not well established, and health systems vary in their commitment to transparency.”
Establishing policies related to patient disclosures is a critical next step for AI integration, and it should consider how the public perceives the use of such technology in their care, the group suggested. To get a better idea of how patients feel about AI, Platt and colleagues conducted a survey of adults treated at their organization in the summer of 2023. The questionnaire included an informative video about how AI is being deployed throughout the healthcare system, in addition to several questions about how the participants felt about medical providers using such software.
Less than 5% of participants were concerned about being notified of AI use, while 67% said it was “very true” that they wanted to be informed. Women were more likely than men to want to be notified, as were White participants in comparison to Black respondents.
“Our findings suggest that notification about AI will be necessary for ethical AI and should be a priority for organizations and policymakers,” the authors suggested. “With this signal about the public’s preference for notification, the question for health systems and policymakers is not whether to notify patients but when and how.”
Patient consent for AI use has been a hot topic in radiology in recent years, as reports suggest that up to half of imaging facilities either already have or are in the process of implementing some form of AI into their workflows. With the number of FDA-approved AI algorithms targeted at healthcare nearing 1,000—70% of which are for imaging—these conversations are only going to continue to heat up. As such, the authors concluded by highlighting the importance of promoting transparency around the use of AI in healthcare to further build the public’s trust.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She joined Innovate Healthcare in 2021 and has since put her unique expertise to use in her editorial role with Health Imaging.