Feds should take page from EHRs, creating ‘Meaningful Use’ program to spur AI adoption, Rad Partners leaders say
Radiology Partners leaders are encouraging the federal government to create a “Meaningful Use” program to encourage artificial intelligence adoption, taking a page from electronic health record incentive efforts.
Radiologists Richard Heller, MD, MBA, and Nina Kottler, MD, MS, shared their thoughts April 19 in an opinion piece published by MedPage Today. They noted that “much has been said about the promise of AI,” but less so about the government’s role in promoting adoption.
Over 15 years ago, the healthcare system faced a similar situation, needing to spur greater adoption of electronic health records.
“Like AI, adoption of EHRs is associated with high upfront costs but long-term benefits to the system,” Heller and Kottler, Rad Partners’ senior VP of health policy and associate CMO of clinical AI, respectively, wrote Saturday. “Therefore, an EHR incentive program, known as Meaningful Use (MU), was developed. The MU program utilized early incentives that declined over time (eventually penalties replaced incentives). Using a similar approach of front-loaded, declining incentives, an AI-focused program could help accelerate adoption and implementation, ensuring interoperability, and promoting responsible use.”
The two also highlighted other recent attempts to bolster AI use in medicine, including a Jan. 23 executive order from President Donald Trump aimed at “removing barriers to American leadership in artificial intelligence.” Members of Congress earlier this month also proposed the Health Tech Investment Act to speed up payment for AI products. However, the bill only addresses technical payments for AI tools used in hospital-based outpatient settings, Rad Partners leaders wrote.
“The executive order on AI is a strong statement, but translating it into meaningful use requires establishment of a robust payment pathway for AI technologies,” Heller and Kottler concluded. “Until the federal government takes decisive action, American physicians—and the patients we serve—may be left waiting, unable to fully realize the benefits of AI-driven healthcare innovations.”
Read the full opinion piece from MedPage here:
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.