Demystifying AI Tools in Health Care: An Introduction for Federal Policymakers

September 19, 2024
1:00 pm-

2:30 pm

Virtual Event

Event Description

This webinar provided an initial framework for congressional staff and federal policymakers on the evolving role of AI tools in health care. Experienced speakers provided an overview of key concepts, the current legislative and regulatory landscape, AI’s impact on health care stakeholders, current risks and pitfalls of AI tools, and risk mitigation strategies. The webinar also identified considerations for policymakers, regulators, and government users of AI tools in ensuring that AI deployment in health care aligns with ethical standards and public interests. 

By the end of the event, attendees walked away knowing what the key questions are to advance their understanding, practical strategies to stay informed amidst rapid developments, and a clearer vision of how AI applies to the health care stakeholders they serve. 

Learning Goals

  • Gain an overview of the current legislative and regulatory environment surrounding AI in health care, understanding key policies and their implications.
  • Analyze the impact of AI on health care stakeholders, including hospital leaders, physicians, and patients, noting both benefits and challenges.
  • Have familiarity with some of the risks of AI biases and explore risk mitigation strategies to manage AI adoption in health care.
  • Discuss how to incorporate equitable health care delivery considerations.
  • Learn strategies to stay informed on AI developments and apply insights to their work.

This webinar was made possible thanks to our 2024 Signature Series Champion Sponsors MITRE and Siftwell. 

Speakers

Claire Sheahan

President and CEO, Alliance for Health Policy
Claire is the Chief Executive Officer at the Alliance for Health Policy. She is a dynamic executive with more than 25 years of experience effectively engaging others to catalyze change in health care and health policy.  Claire has served in leadership roles in associations, corporations,  consulting and communications firms, including GMMB, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Fleishman Hillard, the Generic Pharmaceutical Association (now AAM), Avalere, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, and others. In these roles, she has managed effective educational and engagement campaigns, introduced new capabilities, products and services, established novel cross-functional teams, and successfully achieved gains in reputational status, growth and audience impact.  In her career, she has worked for organizations across the spectrum in health care ranging from scientific discovery to public health to patient advocacy.  These include non-profits like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and National Health Council; medical leaders like the American Academy of Family Physicians, the International Society for Stem Cell Research and Mayo Clinic; and companies like Biogen, Cigna, and Siemens Health.  Claire is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, where she served a semester as a research assistant to a member of UK parliament, and a co-founder of the campus sketch comedy troupe. She also holds an MSc. with Distinction from the London School of Economics in Media and Communications, where her dissertation focused on the construct of public opinion within the halls of the U.S. Congress. Claire also served as an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University, teaching students in the Communications MA program. She is the mother of two children, a cancer survivor, and serves as a Director on the Fairfax Library Foundation Board.

Rachel Snyder Good, J.D.

Strategic Counsel, Epstein Becker & Green
Rachel Snyder Good joined Epstein Becker Green in March 2023 after eleven years on Capitol Hill. Rachel worked two years with Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) working with her Health Education Labor Pensions (HELP) team during the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) before law school and nine years with Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) after law school in his roles as both Minority House Whip and House Majority Leader. Rachel served as Senior Health Advisor to Mr. Hoyer during passage of what became the provisions to bring down prescription drug costs of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the No Surprises Act (NSA) to address the problem of patients receiving surprise bills and during the COVID19 pandemic. Rachel also served as the lead policy staffer on disability policy for all nine years working for Mr. Hoyer who was the lead sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the U.S. House of Representatives when it passed in 1990. Since joining EBG Rachel has helped health care clients draft AI compliance programs and currently is advising a wide variety of health care companies regarding the creation and use of AI tools in health care. Rachel is also closely monitoring regulatory and legislative AI action. Rachel also recently completed the Business Applications for AI in Health Care Certificate of Specialization from The Harvard Chan School Executive and Continuing Professional Education

Lynn Shapiro Snyder, J.D.

Senior Member of the Firm, Founder and Chair of Women Business Leaders of the U.S. Health Care Industry Foundation (WBL), Epstein Becker & Green
Lynn Shapiro Snyder has been a leading health care attorney at EBG for over 45 years addressing a wide variety of federal and state health care issues. She has advised companies on risk mitigation related to the creation and use of AI tools in both clinical and administrative applications. She also has advised companies and trade associations in areas such as Medicare, Medicaid, Managed Care and FDA. She also is the Founder, Chair of the Women Business Leaders of the US Health Care Industry Foundation - a network of over 1400 senior executive women who lead health care companies. (www.wbl.org.) Lynn serves on the Board of Trustmark Companies (a mutual insurance/wellness company) and PT Solutions ( a PT staffing company owned by General Atlantic). She is the author of two books, the 10 Best Practices for Advancing Women in Business and Answering the Call: Understanding the Duties, Risks and Rewards of Corporate Governance.

Maia Hightower, M.D., MPH, MBA

CEO and Founder, Equality AI
Dr. Maia Hightower, MD, MPH, MBA is the CEO and Founder of Equality AI, and former EVP, Chief Digital Transformation Officer at University of Chicago Medicine. She is a leading voice in the intersection of healthcare, AI, digital transformation, and health equity. She is a champion for responsible AI, ensuring that the digital future of healthcare is equitable and just. Equality AI provides AI quality assurance and compliance software for healthcare. We combine AI governance capacity building with our software for AI audit, validation, and monitoring to achieve AI regulation compliance, health equity by design, and operational effectiveness. Thus, enabling healthcare enterprises (providers, pharma, and payers) to realize the total value of their AI investments. We enable healthcare to harness the power of AI to generate the highest reliable outcomes. She is a 4-time C-suit physician executive with fifteen years of executive leadership spanning healthcare IT, medical affairs, and population health across four academic medical centers, clinically integrated networks, and healthcare technology companies. She is an internationally sought after speaker on responsible AI and digital health equity for academic, government, consumer, and industry audiences. Dr. Hightower received her BA at Cornell University, MD, and MPH, from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, followed by residencies in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego. She also holds an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Nicoleta Economou, Ph.D.

Director of Duke Health AI Evaluation & Governance, Scientific Director of The Coalition for Health AI, Duke Health
Nicoleta J. Economou, Ph.D., serves as the Director of the Duke Health AI Evaluation & Governance Program for Duke Health. She is also the founding director of the Algorithm-Based Clinical Decision Support (ABCDS) Oversight leading the operations and framework design effort for the governance, evaluation, and monitoring of ABCDS software at Duke. She also leads initiatives relevant to the evaluation and governance of health AI technologies, along with leading operations of the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) as the Scientific Director.

Presentation: Slide Deck

Event Resources

Thank you to our 2024 Signature Series Champion Sponsors!

Champion