Lehmann, Christoph U

Abstract A discussion and debate on the American Medical Informatics Association’s (AMIA) Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues (ELSI) Working Group listserv in 2021 raised important issues related to a forthcoming conference in Texas. Texas had recently enacted a restrictive abortion law and restricted voting rights. Several AMIA members advocated for a boycott of the state and the scheduled conference. The discussion led the AMIA Board of Directors to request that the organization’s Ethics Committee provide general guidance for principle-based venue selection. This document recommends overarching principles for the venue selection for future AMIA events and conferences. Discussions by the AMIA Board, the Ethics Committee, and the ELSI Working Group informed these recommendations, and this document on guiding principles was approved by the AMIA Board of Directors in April 2022.

Abstract Recent advances in the science and technology of artificial intelligence (AI) and growing numbers of deployed AI systems in healthcare and other services have called attention to the need for ethical principles and governance. We define and provide a rationale for principles that should guide the commission, creation, implementation, maintenance, and retirement of AI systems as a foundation for governance throughout the lifecycle. Some principles are derived from the familiar requirements of practice and research in medicine and healthcare: beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice come first. A set of principles follow from the creation and engineering of AI systems: explainability of the technology in plain terms; interpretability, that is, plausible reasoning for decisions; fairness and absence of bias; dependability, including “safe failure”; provision of an audit trail for decisions; and active management of the knowledge base to remain up to date and sensitive to any changes in the environment. In organizational terms, the principles require benevolence—aiming to do good through the use of AI; transparency, ensuring that all assumptions and potential conflicts of interest are declared; and accountability, including active oversight of AI systems and management of any risks that may arise. Particular attention is drawn to the case of vulnerable populations, where extreme care must be exercised. Finally, the principles emphasize the need for user education at all levels of engagement with AI and for continuing research into AI and its biomedical and healthcare applications.

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic response in the United States has exposed significant gaps in information systems and processes that prevent timely clinical and public health decision-making. Specifically, the use of informatics to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2, support COVID-19 care delivery, and accelerate knowledge discovery bring to the forefront issues of privacy, surveillance, limits of state powers, and interoperability between public health and clinical information systems. Using a consensus-building process, we critically analyze informatics-related ethical issues in light of the pandemic across 3 themes: (1) public health reporting and data sharing, (2) contact tracing and tracking, and (3) clinical scoring tools for critical care. We provide context and rationale for ethical considerations and recommendations that are actionable during the pandemic and conclude with recommendations calling for longer-term, broader change (beyond the pandemic) for public health organization and policy reform.