Now, California lawmakers are looking for ways to limit health care provider shortages and burnout, while also keeping the budget balanced. Some see potential solutions in artificial intelligence.
Oakland Democratic Assembly member Mia Bonta co-led a recent joint hearing on AI and health care from the Health Committee and Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee.
She highlighted the prospect of cutting administrative waste.
“Which given the tough decisions we are going to be making in the state around Medi-Cal, in particular, is very intriguing to me. We know that there is significant rising healthcare costs,” she said.
But Bonta and fellow chair and East Bay Democratic Assembly member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan both expressed concern over AI having access to patient data or making decisions on care.
Bauer-Kahan also raised concerns over insurance plans taking advantage.
“I would say for the average Californian, we experience denials more than we experience approvals,” she said. So, I just want to point out that those algorithms can be trained to maximize for profit or maximize for outcomes.”
Christopher Nielsen with the California Nurses Association spoke on the impact it could have on the state’s workforce.
“Some applications like generative AI nurse agents could lead to outright job displacement,” he said, adding it could be used to justify continued understaffing.
The committees also considered AI’s impact on health care equity.
Stanford University Professor Dr. Michelle Mello told the committees that large, well-funded organizations like hers can afford to consider the risks AI can pose to patients. But that’s not everyone.
“Most health care organizations that use AI do very little to vet it and even less to monitor it,” she said. “As a result, we have very little information about its safe and equitable use.”
She said that’s especially true for less-resourced providers who serve more vulnerable populations.
Several panelists also spoke to how expensive many AI tools are — which means wealthier providers are more likely to have access to the new technology.