IHI Lucian Leape Institute Releases Artificial Intelligence (AI) Recommendations for Patient Safety and Health System Leaders

IHI Lucian Leape Institute Releases Artificial Intelligence (AI) Recommendations for Patient Safety and Health System Leaders

Comprehensive AI Analysis and Guidance Unveiled at Annual IHI Patient Safety Congress

The IHI Lucian Leape Institute (LLI), a think tank within the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) that provides strategic vision for improving patient and workforce safety, today released, “Patient Safety and Artificial Intelligence: Opportunities and Challenges for Care Delivery.” The comprehensive report, with insights from nearly 30 leading experts, includes a detailed analysis of the safety benefits, risks, and recommendations for generative artificial intelligence (genAI) applications.

In January 2024, the LLI-convened expert panel, which was made possible with the generous support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, examined three clinical applications for genAI in health care: documentation support, clinical decision support, and patient-facing chatbots. The report includes detailed use cases about these applications, as well as strategies to mitigate the risks of genAI to patients and patient and workforce safety, and guardrails to consider. It builds on the learnings from an IHI rapid-cycle innovation project conducted last year about genAI and how it is impacting the safety and quality of care.

“This report is a much-needed deep dive into the implications of AI on the safety and quality of care, as well as how AI is impacting health care professionals responsible for delivering that care,” said Kedar Mate, MD, President and CEO of IHI, and President of the IHI Lucian Leape Institute. “As AI continues to evolve, our focus must stay trained on how it can enhance – not replace – human clinical skills and improve our ability to deliver safe and equitable care.”

The expert panel identified many reasons to be enthusiastic about the potential for genAI, including reducing clinician burnout and cognitive load, facilitating the provision of evidence-based practices, improving diagnostic accuracy, and reducing the costs of care. Potential risks are also identified in the report, including the depersonalization of care, the possibility of genAI producing inaccurate recommendations, the challenges of integrating AI into existing workflows, the potential for biased outputs, and workforce deskilling.

To help mitigate the risks and seize the benefits, the expert panel offers six recommendations to guide the ongoing development of genAI tools and their integration into clinical care delivery – each recommendation is described in detail in the report:

• Serve and safeguard the patient
• Learn with, engage, and listen to clinicians
• Evaluate and ensure AI efficacy and freedom from bias
• Establish strict AI governance, oversight, and guidance both for individual health delivery systems and the federal government
• Be intentional with the design, implementation, and ongoing evaluation of AI tools
• Engage in collaborative learning across health care systems

Knowing that everyone has a different role to play in navigating genAI's promise and potential risks, the expert panel also developed specific recommendations and mitigation strategies for key audiences. Detailed resources are available for each of these key groups:

• Patients and Patient Advocates
• Clinicians
• Safety and Quality Professionals
• Health Care Systems
• GenAI Developers
• Researchers
• Regulators and Policymakers

Release of this report coincides with a keynote address delivered today at the IHI Patient Safety Congress: “Hope, Hype, and Perils of AI: What does it mean for Safety?” Dr. Kaveh Shojania, who participated in the keynote and co-chairs the LLI expert panel, commented, “The reasons for the hype over genAI are clear: instant availability of expert level decision support for diagnosis and treatment, major time savings related to clinical documentation, and other exciting clinical applications. Yet, there are risks as well, including reinforcing harmful biases, job losses, and subtle but important commercial influences on decision making. More than any prior technological advancement in health care, the unique power of genAI requires that we temper our enthusiasm with both caution and skepticism.”

Hundreds of health care professionals from around the world were present for the keynote and remain onsite for the 2024 IHI Patient Safety Congress, which is taking place May 14-16 in Orlando, Florida. This year’s gathering features 150 sessions and posters led by more than 100 health care leaders and experts.

The IHI Lucian Leape Institute (LLI) was formed in 2007 by the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF, which merged with IHI in 2017). Composed of international thought leaders with a common interest in patient safety, LLI functions as a think tank to identify new approaches to improving patient safety; call for the innovation necessary to expedite the work; create significant, sustainable improvements in culture, process, and outcomes; and encourage key stakeholders to assume significant roles in advancing patient safety.

About the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is an independent not-for-profit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. For more than 30 years, IHI has used improvement science to advance and sustain better outcomes in health and health systems across the world. IHI brings awareness of safety and quality to millions, catalyzes learning and the systematic improvement of care, develops solutions to previously intractable challenges, and mobilizes health systems, communities, regions, and nations to reduce harm and deaths. IHI collaborates with a growing community to spark bold, inventive ways to improve the health of individuals and populations. IHI generates optimism, harvests fresh ideas, and supports anyone, anywhere who wants to profoundly change health and health care for the better. Learn more at ihi.org.

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Joanna Clark, CXO Communication
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(207) 712-1404

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