New tools powered by artificial intelligence have the power to reshape home health care. Professionals across the industry are using it to monitor patients, remind patients to take their medication, and even automate workflows on the administrative side of business.
However, home health AI isn’t perfect and it could violate ethics by fishing for and sharing confidential patient data or introducing biases into diagnostics.
WorldView understands the benefits of artificial intelligence in medicine, and we are dedicated to improving ethical uses of AI in home health. We inform patients on how we collect and use their data and use robust security protocols to keep your patient information safe. Here are some other ways to use AI ethically in home health.
Understanding Ethical AI and its Significance in Health Care
In broad terms, ethical AI in healthcare involves being open and honest with your patients about using AI and how you are using it. Since personal data in health care is heavily regulated by HIPPA, it’s critical to inform your patients about how you are using AI to diagnose and treat them. Be open about any data you’re collecting, how you plan to use it, and what you are doing to keep it safe.
AI technology is exciting and offers innovations to transform how you care for patients. AI powered software can quickly evaluate a lot of medical data and point you toward diagnoses and treatment options for each patient. It can also help you monitor patients remotely by collecting vital signs and sharing them with your electronic health records. These are the positives of artificial intelligence on medicine.
But it’s important to balance these innovations with patient rights and to protect your patients’ personal information.
The Role of AI in Home Health Care
AI algorithms can help you personalize treatment plans based on past patient records and predictive analysis from other patients with the same condition. It also helps you track a patient’s condition over time and intervene if they seem to be getting worse.
New technology powered by AI improves your ability to treat patients effectively, which improves their outcomes and saves money on ineffective treatment. It also reduces your team’s administrative burden which can decrease burnout.
AI for health care and medical care makes it easier to work from home as well, since your team can monitor their patients remotely. On the administrative side, AI helps in automation including scheduling, appointment reminders, and referrals.
However, home health professionals and patients have concerns about AI, such as data privacy and potential job displacement.
Key Ethical Considerations for AI in Home Health
To ease privacy considerations, protect patient data by limiting access to AI-powered technology. Encrypt your servers and systems and use multi-factor authentication to protect data. If you’re using AI to analyze volumes of patient data for case-studies and medical research, remove all identifying information before uploading your data.
Make sure you get signed consent forms from patients before you use AI to guide care. Currently, AI algorithms have shown bias against traditionally underrepresented communities. You can counteract these biases by using data that represents the whole population, or be aware of them when you’re treating patients who are members of these communities.
If you are using AI in your home health practice, be transparent. Communicate with your patients about how you are using it and how it will benefit them.
Implementing Ethical AI in Home Health Care
Before you implement AI in your home health practices, analyze the risks and the potential benefits. Make sure any piece of technology you’re using follows data privacy laws and guidelines. As a health care provider, learn about the drawbacks of using AI including potential biases and other risks.
Learn how to balance AI tools with human compassion and intuition and aim for a balance. Keep monitoring your AI systems and use them to complement your human health care professionals. Use an electronic documents system and other home health technology to monitor how your team is using AI.
Store all your compliance documentation in one place and allow your compliance team to look through AI-generated documents to make sure your team is using these tools responsibly.
Overcoming Ethical Challenges in AI
You may be tempted to use AI for diagnostics and imaging with every patient, but you need to get informed consent before deploying these techniques. By allowing your patients to opt out, you can mitigate potential data privacy and other risks.
Always use real data to train your AI-powered tools. A prominent oncology center once used fake cancer cases to train its diagnostic tools, which led to improper treatment recommendations. The best way to avoid these risks is to set clear AI policies and train your staff early and often about how they should be using AI.
Choose technology providers with medical experience who understand data privacy and other healthcare-specific regulations.
Conclusion
Artificial intelligence in health care is exciting. New developments have the power to improve diagnostics and care while easing the administrative burden on your caregivers. However, it’s important to consider the ethical risks associated with using AI to treat your patients. Make strict policies and train your team to ethically implement AI solutions in your agency.
Use trusted vendors such as WorldView who understand how to use AI responsibly without compromising patient safety. Contact us today to learn more about how to implement AI ethically in your practice.
