AdvaMed commended the end-of-year report submitted to the U.S. Congress on December 17 by the House Task Force on AI, noting its recommendations to develop a formalized payment pathway for AI medical devices.
“We look forward to continuing to work with [the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services], patients, and policymakers to establish sensible, efficient Medicare coverage and reimbursement policies,” said Scott Whitaker, president and CEO of AdvaMed, in a news release.
The 253-page report lays the groundwork for AI adoption, innovation, and governance. The AI Task Force gathered information on salient AI issues from domain experts in industry, government, civil society, and academia to provide 66 key findings and 85 recommendations.
AdvaMed noted that the report states, “Certainly, there will be no ‘one size fits all’ reimbursement policy for every AI technology, and developing appropriate payment mechanisms requires recognition of varying kinds of technology and clinical settings. For example, many AI technologies may fit into existing benefit categories or facility fees. Congress should continue to evaluate emerging technologies to ensure Medicare benefits adequately recognize appropriate AI-related medical technologies.”
The report also recommends that policymakers develop or expand high-quality data access mechanisms that ensure the protection of patient data and suggests that the U.S. Department of Commerce and other government agencies can learn more about AI risk mitigations through collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services.
The AI Task Force was established in February and comprises twenty-four members, 12 Republicans and 12 Democrats. The members adopted several high-level principles to frame the policy analysis under the following topic headlines:
- Identify AI Issue Novelty
- Promote AI Innovation
- Protect Against AI Risks and Harms
- Empower Government with AI
- Affirm the use of a Sectoral Regulatory Structure
- Take an Incremental Approach
- Keep Humans at the Center of AI Policy
“These principles represent high-level policy considerations that transcend specific AI issues and can help guide future congressional efforts,” the report states.
Ultimately, the task force wrote that the report is not the final word on AI issues for Congress, but instead should be viewed as a tool for identifying and evaluating AI policy proposals.
AdvaMed noted that it was recently accredited by the American National Standards Institute to develop industry standards for medical device innovation and said it looks forward to working alongside policymakers to enact policies that facilitate access to data and support standards development.