Strategic Steps for Successful Health Care AI Adoption and Governance

On Health AI Adoption: See What You Have and Set Future Priorities

Introduction

From sepsis detection to medical imaging analysis, readmission prediction, and diagnostic coding, two out of three physicians report that their organizations are already using augmented intelligence (AI) in health care. This technology is becoming a common tool in clinical settings.

Importance of Governance

As AI tools become more common in medicine, health care organizations must establish governance systems to guide their use. This helps ensure these technologies support physicians, patients, and the entire organization effectively. A key step is assessing the AI tools already in place and developing a clear framework for future priorities.

“These tools are exciting. They’re shiny. They’re new. It’s easy to get caught up in them. Now is the time to do this hard work to set ourselves up for success. It’s what is going to allow these tools to actually reach the potential that we hope that they will reach,” said Margaret Lozovatsky, MD, chief medical information officer and vice president of digital health innovations at the AMA.

Assessing Current AI Use

Taking inventory of existing AI tools allows organizations to recognize successes, identify new opportunities, and ensure compliance with legal requirements. The AMA offers a toolkit that guides organizations on surveying departments to discover what AI is in use. It also helps identify common priorities and suggests ways to prioritize upcoming AI projects.

“The speed of technology’s innovation is always going to be different than our ability to utilize the technology and having this governance will allow us to keep up with that speed more easily,” Dr. Lozovatsky explained.

AMA Toolkit for Governance

The AMA STEPS Forward® toolkit, “Governance for Augmented Intelligence,” created with Manatt Health, provides an eight-step guide for health systems to establish governance frameworks that implement, manage, and scale AI solutions.

The AMA prefers the term augmented intelligence to emphasize AI’s role as an aid for health professionals, not a replacement. The foundation of responsible AI adoption includes:

• Establishing executive accountability and structure
• Forming a working group to set priorities, processes, and policies
• Assessing current policies
• Developing AI-specific policies
• Defining project intake, vendor evaluation, and assessment processes
• Updating standard planning and implementation procedures
• Establishing oversight and monitoring
• Supporting organizational readiness for AI

Prioritizing AI Implementation

Align AI efforts with your practice’s strategic goals. Focus on the problem you want to solve and what you hope to achieve. Collaboration is key — involve a multidisciplinary working group to share perspectives and find solutions together.

The toolkit highlights common organizational priorities that AI can support, including:

• Shifting to value-based care
• Improving financial sustainability
• Supporting workforce retention
• Advancing health equity
• Focusing on patient-centered care
• Advancing population health management

Assessing AI Projects

To decide which AI projects to prioritize, governance groups can use:

• The Health Care Value Equation: This formula compares care quality against the cost of delivering it, helping to evaluate project value.
• The 2x2 Decision-Making Matrix: This framework helps prioritize AI tools based on clinical impact and ease of implementation.

Advocacy Principles

Beyond technical and operational guidance, advocacy is crucial. The AMA has developed principles focused on:

• Health care AI oversight
• Disclosure policies to promote AI transparency
• Governance for generative AI
• Physician liability related to AI technologies
• Data privacy and cybersecurity in AI
• Payer use of AI and automated decision-making systems

Conclusion

Health care organizations can benefit from understanding their current AI resources and setting clear priorities for future adoption. Resources like the AMA’s “Governance for Augmented Intelligence” toolkit provide practical steps to guide this process.

For those interested in expanding their knowledge of AI in health care, explore learning options at Complete AI Training, offering courses that cover AI applications relevant to clinical practice and health care management.