New Innovation Models in Medical AI

Authors

W Nicholson Price II, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow
Rachel E. Sachs, Washington University Law SchoolFollow
Rebecca S. Eisenberg, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2022

Abstract

In recent years, scientists and researchers have devoted considerable resources to developing medical artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Many of these technologies—particularly those that resemble traditional medical devices in their functions—have received substantial attention in the legal and policy literature. But other types of novel AI technologies, such as those related to quality improvement and optimizing use of scarce facilities, have been largely absent from the discussion thus far. These AI innovations have the potential to shed light on important aspects of health innovation policy. First, these AI innovations interact less with the legal regimes that scholars traditionally conceive of as shaping medical innovation: patent law, FDA regulation, and health insurance reimbursement. Second, and perhaps related, a different set of innovation stakeholders, including health systems and insurers, are conducting their own research and development in these areas for their own use without waiting for commercial product developers to innovate for them. The activities of these innovators have implications for health innovation policy and scholarship. Perhaps most notably, data possession and control play a larger role in determining capacity to innovate in this space, while the ability to satisfy the quality standards of regulators and payers plays a smaller role relative to more familiar biomedical innovations such as new drugs and devices.

Recommended Citation

Price, W. Nicholson, II, Rachel E. Sachs, and Rebecca S. Eisenberg. "New Innovation Models in Medical AI." Washington University Law Review 99, no. 4 (2022): 1121-1173.