Encouraging Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Biomedical Discovery and Improved Patient Care

By Stephen F Hightower MD FACP

“The thing that’s going to make artificial intelligence so powerful is its ability to learn

and the way AI learns is to look at human Culture” Dan Brown

fixingushealthcare.com

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Dear Mr. President, Honorable Members of Congress and Distinguished Staff and Fine

Citizens,

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning are being integrated into patient rooms, chat

bots, diagnostic testing, and research studies ꟷ all to improve innovation, discovery and patient

care. The projection is that AI may soon become a $188 Billion dollar industry worldwide by

2030. Expectations from AI include, new drugs, new treatments, accurate diagnosis of complex

conditions sooner, and improvement of patient access to appropriate standard or critical care.

Using Artificial Intelligence combined with machine learning will be able to improve efficiency

and accuracy of clinical decisions. An enhanced computer with machine learning and AI

integration can already read films from Magnetic Resonance Imaging or even simple x-rays

better than humans. Significant success is occurring in the diagnosis of early breast cancer by AI detection programs connected to Mammography.

An AI alliance, started by IBM and META now includes 90 leading AI technology and

research organizations that support safe and trusted AI research and development.

In the realm of biomedical research using AI, partnerships like IBM and the Cleveland

Clinic are focusing on accelerating biomedical discovery. This should significantly shorten the

exhaustive time frames of previously required biomedical experiments and expand

opportunities for wide ranging investigations of human cell lines from varied organ cell types.

AI and Machine learning are also being integrated into every step of the patient care process to

include research, treatment options and suggestions for after care.

Triage with AI has been very helpful for identifying those considered at the highest risk

for poor outcomes. For example, stroke patients with AI enhanced MRI can be provided a

quicker preliminary diagnosis which can decrease delays in needed treatment. In an outpatient

setting, AI can reduce the number of notes a provider needs to take during an appointment.

Continuous hearing AI programs use an ambient listening program to evaluate and document

conversations between patients and physicians. The programs can even take instructions for

prescription and meds that the provider orders.

AI is equally valuable at virtual appointments. AI can identify medications being used

and can prescribe or refill the provider’s orders. AI can also be of benefit to virtual

appointments by inquiring about current medications and how the patients are using them ꟷ

for example, inhalers, or insulin pens.

Actually, the future of AI for health care may be brightest in the area of research. The

ability to pull all the patient data about a specific disease and distill it down into a single

location where doctors can access results for research, effectiveness of treatments, and inform

their patients on treatment outcomes may truly be the best use for AI in all of our communities.

Finally, awareness that the World Health Organization has issued guidelines for the safe

and ethical use of AI in the health care space since 2021, and that its goal is to continues to

build guidelines with ethics and safety as their foundation.

The United States needs to maintain robust efforts to utilize AI for all of the significant

positive outcomes that it can provide in healthcare. We encourage you to continue your

support.

Respectfully submitted,

Stephen F Hightower MD FACP

fixingushealthcare.com

Copy to: We The People at fixingushealthcare.com