Query: I heard there’s a new California law that regulates the use of artificial intelligence in the healthcare business. Is that this true?
Reply: Sure. On Jan. 1, California’s Meeting Invoice 3030 grew to become efficient, marking a big step in California’s regulation of generative artificial intelligence (often known as “GenAI”). Usually, AB 3030 requires suppliers in the healthcare business to inform sufferers after they make the most of GenAI to generate written or verbal communications with the affected person. To grasp this new law, a quick overview of GenAI is useful.
GenAI is a sort of artificial intelligence that’s succesful of creating new digital content material, together with textual content, audio, photographs and video, by analyzing huge quantities of knowledge. In healthcare, this expertise has transformative potential and might considerably improve medical analysis, diagnostics and affected person care. Nonetheless, its use additionally raises moral and sensible considerations about transparency, accountability and knowledge accuracy. AB 3030 addresses these considerations by requiring healthcare suppliers to reveal their use of GenAI in creating affected person communications.
AB 3030 covers well being services, clinics, doctor’s places of work and group practices that use GenAI expertise to create verbal or written communications a few “affected person’s medical data.” Beneath AB 3030, “affected person medical data” means data regarding the well being standing of a affected person, as errors in care-related communications have potential to trigger higher affected person hurt.
Examples of coated communications embrace automated emails explaining take a look at outcomes, AI-generated summaries of diagnoses or audio recordings offering remedy directions. Companies that fall below this class should embrace two necessary disclosures in their communications with sufferers.
First, the coated enterprise should embrace a disclaimer stating that the communication was generated utilizing GenAI. For written communications involving bodily and digital media (e.g., letters and emails), the disclaimer should seem at the start of every communication. For written communications involving steady on-line interactions (e.g., chat-based telehealth), the disclaimer should be displayed all through the interplay. For audio communications, the disclaimer should be offered verbally at first and finish of the interplay. For video communications, the disclaimer should be displayed all through the video.
Second, the coated enterprise should present clear directions on how sufferers can contact a licensed or licensed healthcare supplier or a human worker of the enterprise. This ensures that sufferers have entry to somebody who can make clear or broaden on the data offered.
AB 3030 features a vital exception. Beneath the law, a coated enterprise doesn’t want to offer these two disclosures if the communication has been reviewed and permitted by a licensed or licensed healthcare supplier. Furthermore, as a result of the law solely applies to communications a few “affected person’s medical data,” the disclosure just isn’t required for communications pertaining to administrative and enterprise issues, similar to appointment scheduling, check-up reminders and billing.
AB 3030 contains vital enforcement measures. Well being services and clinics that fail to conform might be topic to penalties, together with fines and licensure actions. Equally, physicians who violate AB 3030 could also be topic to disciplinary motion in opposition to their licenses. Lined companies can keep away from these penalties by being proactive in the areas of communication templates, employees coaching and revised insurance policies and procedures.
Although AB 3030 is at present centered on the healthcare business, it represents California’s broader effort to control and mitigate the potential dangers of GenAI in quite a few settings. Companies are inspired keep up-to-date on the altering authorized panorama and will contact their authorized counsel with questions on AB 3030 or related legal guidelines.
Marco Lucido is a lawyer with Fenton & Keller in Monterey. This column is meant to reply questions of common curiosity and shouldn’t be construed as authorized recommendation. E-mail queries to e-mail@fentonkeller.com.