A government AI lab is born
By RUTH READER , DANIEL PAYNE , ERIN SCHUMAKER and CARMEN PAUN
11/01/2024 02:00 PM EDT WASHINGTON WATCH
The Department of Veterans Affairs and the FDA are teaming up to launch a virtual health AI lab to vet artificial intelligence tools, they announced at the Veterans Health Administration Innovation Experience conference in Chicago this week.
FDA Commissioner Robert Califf calls it the “first intergovernmental health AI laboratory” that will test AI.
The FDA regulates AI when it’s incorporated into medical devices. The VA is the largest health system in the country, serving 9 million veterans.
Both the FDA and the VA have experience with AI.
The FDA has issued discussion documents and guidance on artificial intelligence since 2021. And to date, the agency has authorized more than 1,000 AI products, but Califf has also said the agency will struggle with advanced AI tools whose performance may shift over time or perform differently in different locations. He’s suggested health center vetting labs could help.
The VA has tested more than 120 AI tools through its National Artificial Intelligence Institute. Why it matters: The health care industry hasn’t agreed on how health care AI products should be validated to ensure they’re safe and effective for all people. Several industry-led groups have emerged to make recommendations on how to vet AI.The Department of Health and Human Services, of which the FDA is part, plans to publish a cross-agency AI strategy by January 2025.Through its new partnership with the VA, the FDA could gain a valuable test bed for evaluating AI methods and provide insights useful for developing a broader regulatory framework for AI.The VA public health system that operates 170 medical centers nationwide is uniquely situated to evaluate AI’s impacts both centrally and locally. What’s next? Dr. Shereef Elnahal, the VA undersecretary for health, told Nextgov that the VA and FDA will work out how the virtual lab will work over the next six months. WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. An evolutionary psychologist believes the human kiss evolved from grooming […]
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