Setting the agenda: an informatics-led policy framework for adaptive CDS

How patients distinguish between clinical and administrative predictive models in health care

OBJECTIVES

To understand patient perceptions of specific applications of predictive models in health care.

STUDY DESIGN

Original, cross-sectional national survey.

METHODS

We conducted a national online survey of US adults with the National Opinion Research Center from November to December 2021. Measures of internal consistency were used to identify how patients differentiate between clinical and administrative predictive models. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to identify relationships between comfort with various types of predictive models and patient demographics, perceptions of privacy protections, and experiences in the health care system.

RESULTS

A total of 1541 respondents completed the survey. After excluding observations with missing data for the variables of interest, the final analytic sample was 1488. We found that patients differentiate between clinical and administrative predictive models. Comfort with prediction of bill payment and missed appointments was especially low (21.6% and 36.6%, respectively). Comfort was higher with clinical predictive models, such as predicting stroke in an emergency (55.8%). Experiences of discrimination were significant negative predictors of comfort with administrative predictive models. Health system transparency around privacy policies was a significant positive predictor of comfort with both clinical and administrative predictive models.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients are more comfortable with clinical applications of predictive models than administrative ones. Privacy protections and transparency about how health care systems protect patient data may facilitate patient comfort with these technologies. However, larger inequities and negative experiences in health care remain important for how patients perceive administrative applications of prediction.

Open questions and research gaps for monitoring and updating AI-enabled tools in clinical settings

As the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled tools is realized across diverse clinical environments, there is a growing understanding of the need for ongoing monitoring and updating of prediction models. Dataset shift-temporal changes in clinical practice, patient populations, and information systems-is now well-documented as a source of deteriorating model accuracy and a challenge to the sustainability of AI-enabled tools in clinical care. While best practices are well-established for training and validating new models, there has been limited work developing best practices for prospective validation and model maintenance. In this paper, we highlight the need for updating clinical prediction models and discuss open questions regarding this critical aspect of the AI modeling lifecycle in three focus areas: model maintenance policies, performance monitoring perspectives, and model updating strategies. With the increasing adoption of AI-enabled tools, the need for such best practices must be addressed and incorporated into new and existing implementations. This commentary aims to encourage conversation and motivate additional research across clinical and data science stakeholders.