AMA releases framework for ‘clinical authority’ to guide agentic AI adoption in healthcare
The American Medical Association (AMA) has released a new framework for how it believes artificial intelligence developers, and providers, should approach agentic technologies as they look to deploy them in clinical settings.
The governance framework, presented as an infographic, is intended to guide all stakeholders of “increasingly capable AI” to ensure it actually improves patient care, with providers acting as a “clinical authority” that pushes leaders at healthcare organizations, and tech companies, to remain accountable to the central mission of delivering quality services and keeping patients healthy.
A circle of vigilance is the central ethos of the guide, where agentic AI is deployed, providers and staff monitor its usage and results, then take what they've observed and reassess how the technology is being used.
The AMA asks stakeholders to ask certain questions, such as:
- What clinical function is the AI performing?
- What should AI be permitted to do, and under what conditions?
- How has an effective use case been demonstrated, and what happens if the technology fails to deliver?
Presented as a central pillar of all of the above is a single guiding principle: "Clinical authority should be earned through evidence and maintained through demonstrated performance,” with the AMA adding that authority and oversight are likely to evolve as agentic AI rapidly improves and changes.
Agentic AI is any version of the technology that acts as a human would, augmenting the care experience by, in this case, offering patient care treatment plans, flagging relevant insights from medical charts, automatically ordering prescriptions and more.
“As agentic AI systems become capable of assuming increasingly consequential clinical functions, clear approaches are needed to determine what these systems should be permitted to do, under what conditions, and who is accountable for their actions and outcomes,” the AMA said in a statement.
The organization said that in developing the framework, it is bringing together “physicians with those who build, deploy and regulate AI to shape responsible governance in service of better patient care.”
Over time, the group added that this evolving framework will guide how it advises healthcare organizations, provider groups, and practices as they look to adopt AI systems.
Rapid rollout demands preparation
In a statement emailed to HealthExec, AMA CEO John Whyte, MD, emphasized the importance of establishing guardrails now, as agentic AI is rapidly taking over more and more responsibilities in healthcare settings.
“We cannot afford to wait for these questions to be answered through trial and error in patient care,” he said. “The AMA's new framework sets out our ambitious agenda to address these questions, including the critical issues of liability, licensure and regulation. It will guide our work with physicians, patients, technology developers and policymakers to ensure clinical authority is earned through evidence, how oversight must evolve with risk, and how accountability is maintained.”
“The time to do this work is now, while we still have the opportunity to shape how these technologies enter clinical practice,” Whyte added.
The full PDF copy of the infographic can be found by clicking here.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.