Editor’s note: This blog was written in consultation with Leigh Burchell, Altera Digital Health’s VP of Policy & Government affairs.

Artificial intelligence has boomed across industries throughout the world, and it’s no surprise to see Health IT vendors incorporating AI into solutions of all sizes and for various uses. While exciting, vendors must consider complex strategies and take caution while implementing AI. And clients should account for a vendor’s AI perspective and approach. So, let’s discuss this plainly: Here are five crucial considerations for IT vendors when approaching AI in the regulatory space.

• Invest in responsible AI practices: Essential to the heart of care, vendors must implement rigorous internal governance frameworks, prioritizing bias detection, transparency, security and compliance with regulatory best practices.
• Maintain adaptability: As regulations evolve rapidly, embedding flexibility into technology should help vendors swiftly adjust as policies change.
• Engage with policymakers to deliver practical feedback: Together, vendors can share real-world insights from decades of experience delivering software while advocating for balanced regulations. This supports room for innovation, safeguards patient privacy and enables responsible care delivery.
• Focus on consistent regulatory delivery: IT vendors’ teams must be laser-focused on regulatory compliance, and this must also be supported by a centralized team of experts who ensure consistent, knowledgeable interpretations of laws and requirements.
• Prioritize core principles: Regardless of regulatory specifics, vendors must emphasize transparency, fairness and patient safety in all applications.

Altera’s strategic perspective and approach

At Altera, we advocate for clear, unified federal regulations, provided they are rooted firmly in ethical principles that promote responsible AI use. A centralized governance approach to AI would simplify compliance for our company and our clients across the country, and it would certainly be a path that is less resource-intensive.

In addition to that perspective, our policy and regulatory affairs leader, Leigh Burchell, serves as Chair of the Electronic Health Record Association (EHRA), an important collaborative effort that helps to shape public policy at both the federal and state level and is regularly sought out by policymakers for advice.

To learn more about our approach to AI, visit our webpage.