6 priorities for a national healthcare AI strategy from our friends in the UK
The U.S. is far from alone in the world in its wranglings across public and private sectors to adopt propitious healthcare AI innovations quickly yet safely. Our close economic (and military) allies in the U.K. are among those striving to herd healthcare AI cats of their own. What can we learn from their thinking?
Quite a lot, judging by a paper published June 26 by the Health Foundation, an independent nonprofit focused on driving continuous improvements into U.K. healthcare. The document is largely angled to lobby Britain’s National Health Service, the second-largest single-payer healthcare system in the world (after Brazil’s).
However, it’s an open document—one offering easily digestible food for thought to any healthcare AI stakeholders striving to maximize healthcare AI’s benefits while minimizing its risks.
“The huge pressures the NHS is facing due to escalating demand [for healthcare services] and significant workforce shortages make developing a strategy that much more urgent,” the Health Foundation writes in its intro section. “A strategy is particularly needed to ensure the benefits of AI can be realized at scale across the NHS rather than just in a few pockets of excellence.”
The paper lays out six priorities to guide policymakers and healthcare leaders as they formulate and promote said strategy.
1. The use of AI should be shaped by the public, patients and healthcare staff to ensure the technology works for them.
An AI in healthcare strategy “should be based on a deep understanding of what people in the U.K. think about AI-driven health technologies,” the authors write. “It should ensure there are effective mechanisms in place for engaging patients, the public and NHS staff on relevant topics as they arise to inform high-level decision making.” More:
‘It should also involve patients and staff in the co-design of AI solutions if we are to harness their potential in a way that works for all.’
2. The NHS must focus AI development and deployment in the right areas.
An AI in healthcare strategy “should support local innovation and experimentation while also setting out a small number of high-level priorities where AI can help address key challenges the NHS faces (administrative and operational as well as clinical). It should also support the demonstration, testing and spread of these tools.”
‘As part of this, a strategy will need to maintain effective horizon-scanning functions and provide opportunities and mechanisms for NHS staff and provider organizations to signal where AI could help most.’
3. The NHS needs data and digital infrastructure that will enable it to capitalize on the potential of AI.
An AI in healthcare strategy “should ensure the NHS’s digital infrastructure is fit for purpose and set out how processes can be standardized and improved to allow efficient access to high-quality data for the development of AI systems.”
‘Such access should be based on a proportionate approach to data security and privacy that effectively balances risk and opportunity.’
4. The use of AI in the NHS must be underpinned by high-quality testing and evaluation.
The success of AI in practice depends on how well the technology performs in live healthcare settings. Given this, any national strategy “must consider how to broker and support more opportunities for testing AI technologies in real-world settings.”
‘An AI in healthcare strategy must support the further development of evaluation frameworks appropriate for AI and boost the capacity to evaluate AI as it is developed and implemented in the NHS.’
5. The NHS needs a clear and consistent regulatory regime for AI.
“There is particular concern among clinicians as to where clinical liability sits when algorithms are used in clinical decision making,” the Health Foundation points out, “so providing regulatory clarity here will be essential.”
‘An AI in healthcare strategy must prioritize the coordination of sectoral regulators, bringing all relevant bodies together under an agreed-upon approach that addresses gaps and overlaps.’
6. The healthcare workforce must have the right skills and capabilities to capitalize on AI.
“Ultimately, there needs to be a shared vision for how professions and occupations—as well as new roles—should develop with greater use of AI,” the authors write. “And NHS staff themselves should play a central role in the development of this vision, in partnership with their colleagues, employers, trade unions, professional and representative bodies, patients and the public.”
‘An AI in healthcare strategy must set out concrete plans to equip the current and future workforce with the skills needed for using AI, develop career paths that allow healthcare workers to specialize in AI and empower staff to shape the evolution of their roles.’
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.