{"id":23255,"date":"2023-12-19T13:22:55","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T18:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthit-gov.go-vip.net\/buzz-blog\/?p=23255"},"modified":"2026-01-17T21:35:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T21:35:29","slug":"leveraging-agency-expertise-to-foster-american-ai-leadership-and-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthit.gov\/blog\/ai-ml\/leveraging-agency-expertise-to-foster-american-ai-leadership-and-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"Leveraging Agency Expertise to Foster American AI Leadership and Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week I had the opportunity to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. During this second hearing on artificial intelligence (AI), I shared work that I\u2019m doing on behalf of HHS to support President Biden\u2019s Executive Order<\/a> on harnessing the potential and mitigating the risks of AI. I\u2019m grateful for the opportunity to discuss this work with the Committee. My oral testimony follows, and my full written testimony is also available on the Energy and Commerce Committee website.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Chair Rogers, Ranking Member Pallone, Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the Department of Health and Human Services\u2019 efforts to promote the responsible use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in health care, public health, and human services.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m Micky Tripathi, and I\u2019m the head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. I come to this role having served in the Department of Defense many years ago, and for the past twenty years, in the private sector working on electronic health record implementation, interoperability, and data analytics. ONC is a staff division in the Office of the Secretary and is responsible for advancing the federal government\u2019s health information technology efforts and catalyzing adoption of secure, interoperable health IT systems across the entire health ecosystem. In addition to my formal role running ONC, Secretary Becerra has tasked me with co-leading HHS\u2019 efforts in artificial intelligence.<\/em><\/p>\n

HHS\u2019 mission is to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, by supporting effective health and human services and by fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services. We\u2019re looking at AI through the same mission lens \u2013 foster responsible use of AI to improve peoples\u2019 lives.<\/em><\/p>\n

There are many ways in which AI will affect health care. As called for in the President\u2019s recent executive order, we\u2019ve launched a department-wide task force looking at eight different areas, including healthcare delivery, human services, and R&D.<\/em><\/p>\n

We at the department are AI optimists; AI-based technologies have the potential to accelerate innovation, increase market competition, ameliorate health inequities, reduce clinician burn-out, and improve care and the care experience for patients. However, there are lots of potential downsides as well, so we also believe that our approach to AI in health care should be \u201cdon\u2019t trust without verifying.\u201d It\u2019s vital that we both seize the promise AND manage the risks.<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s important to note that we\u2019re not starting from scratch. <\/em><\/p>\n