Does tech such as AI need more oversight in health care?

A device is in the works that can monitor when a patient administered their asthma inhaler, whether they used it at the correct time and record other environmental factors such as the humidity and pollen count.

This is just a simple example of one of the many exciting technological innovations meant to help doctors track their patients, said Aidan Petrie, managing partner of New England Medical Innovation Center.

“That is the sort of thing where you’ve got a more informed doctor who can make better decisions based on better data,” Petrie said during Providence Business News’ Fall Health Care Summit on Oct. 24. “That was not rocket science, that wasn’t coming up with a new pill; that was just putting together elements that exist right now in a way that’s useful.”

Petrie participated in a four-person panel discussion during the summit held at the Crowne Plaza Providence-Warwick. Panelists talked about workforce development and education, the role of technology and innovation in the sector, and the opioid and mental health crisis.

Panelist Ana Novais, assistant secretary of the R.I. Executive Office of Health and Human Services, said technology is crucial at the state level to improve understanding of patient outcomes, costs and challenges.

While the new medical technologies, including artificial intelligence, can improve efficiencies, there does need to be oversight from state and federal officials, Novais said. Specifically, regulators should ensure that there is equal access across patients who speak different languages and from different cultural backgrounds.

“As much as one doesn’t like regulations, this is one area where I believe it will be important,” Novais said.

Petrie agreed AI needs to be regulated but said it will help physicians save time, engage with patients and understand a patient’s medical history.

One of AI’s most powerful abilities is to communicate with people in a human-like voice. Petrie said there are companies conducting physician training through conversations with an avatar. Petrie tried it recently, having an approximate half-hour conversation with one of these avatars about a made-up illness in his home.

“I had one of the more profound conversations I ever had,” Petrie said. “In that natural language side, I think it’s going to be very, very powerful. It needs the guardrails for sure.”

As technology becomes an increasingly important part of delivering health care, the medical curriculum will likely cover how to use technology in addition to existing methods, said Cara Sammartino, Johnson & Wales University health science department chair and professor.

“As we think about new curriculum and we train future health care workers in whatever sector, it’s really understanding that tech is a part of it and how you use it will influence patient outcomes,” Sammartino said.

Still, Rhode Island is struggling with interoperability issues when it comes to electronic medical records, Sammartino said. The different electronic medical record systems across the state can’t communicate with each other, making it difficult for physicians to get a patient’s medical history if they previously visited a different health system.

“This should be easy right?” Sammartino said. “We only have so many hospitals and so many practices that we could easily connect levels of encryption.”

Improving this requires health care providers to consider whether they need all of a patient’s identifying data, Sammartino said. And if this information is needed, providers should consider if there’s a way to create unique encrypted identifiers that can be used with different record types.

However, not every encryption is created equal, and it’s crucial to consider how patient information would be protected with improved interoperability, said Linda Hurley, CEO and president of CODAC Inc., a nonprofit that provides drug addiction treatment. More funding will likely be necessary to accomplish this.

Indeed, funding is crucial to solving most of the challenges facing Rhode Island’s health care system, including the shortage of care providers.

“The bottom line is when an individual is entering a field, they want to be able to have child care, to afford a home, to afford a car,” Hurley said. “Compensation is critical. … You really need to be able to pay the people that are doing the wonderful job.”

Inadequate compensation and stigma are the two biggest barriers facing mental health support in Rhode Island, she said.

The increased prevalence and knowledge surrounding mental health issues since the COVID-19 pandemic has helped to end some of those stigmas, she said. The greater the interest in these issues among health care providers and educators, the greater the chance policymakers will pay attention as well.

Novais said creating a more comprehensive behavioral health system is one of EOHHS’ top priorities. One of the state’s recent successes in addressing this was the certified community behavioral health clinics program. Under the program, which launched in October, eight clinics around the state will offer behavioral health care regardless of immigration status, age and whether a patient has medical insurance.

“[The clinics] provide what we believe is really transformational care from a behavioral health perspective,” Novais said. “It’s a key victory for the state.”