As artificial intelligence becomes more ubiquitous in senior care, and healthcare overall, experts have identified a need to better evaluate new technologies for possible shortcomings and deficiencies.
As part of that push for efficacy, clinical data firm Dandelion Health will begin a pilot program next month to evaluate AI programs that deal with electrocardiograms, or EKGs.
The program will help discern where there are weaknesses in the AI program, such as missing data or potential biases. One concern among cardiologists is that AI health apps under-represent African-Americans and Asians.
The ability to accurately detect heart conditions could be crucial to seniors; 17% of adults 65 and over have some form of coronary heart disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In addition to racial and ethnic biases, tech literacy and engagement, or lack thereof, as well as access to the internet in rural areas, could cause both inequities and distrust within the senior living sphere, experts told McKnight’s.
EKG AI is being developed by a number of companies, including health systems like the Mayo Clinic and Cedars Sinai, to monitor waveforms and predict heart conditions. Dandelion expects the program to run for several months.
Although the pilot program is free, Dandelion hopes customers like drug companies or startups will pay for them to evaluate their AI.
The news comes at a time when AI is receiving extra scrutiny, including in the public sector.
Members of Congress are hoping to launch a bipartisan Safe Innovation Framework for AI policy analysis, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told a panel at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Wednesday.
The American Medical Association is also developing guidelines on effective use of AI for patients and physicians, the organization announced earlier this month.
