The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has announced the launch of a new online advice service to help the NHS and the wider care system fully utilise new digital and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
The AI and Digital Regulations Service is a multi-agency collaboration between NICE, the Care Quality Commission, the Health Research Authority and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Since the service features information from each of the four organisations, the website provides users with comprehensive regulatory guidance at each stage of the adoption pathway.
The service also offers users individual advice from relevant services or system partners if they submit an enquiry.
Mark Chapman, interim director of medical technology at NICE, said: “This service will help developers and the NHS come together to effectively deploy impactful AI and digital technologies. It provides useful and usable guidance on how to identify, pilot and roll out such technologies.”
Dr Laura Squire, MHRA chief quality and access officer, added: “This innovative advice service will not only benefit developers and NHS adopters – it will also assure clinicians and provide them with confidence when using these cutting-edge technologies to provide care for patients across the UK.”
The service was funded by the NHS AI Lab, which was created to address the barriers to developing and deploying AI systems in healthcare by bringing together government, health and care providers, academics and technology companies.
Dominic Cushnan, director of AI, imaging and deployment, NHS England, said: “The NHS AI Lab brought the regulatory agencies together to clarify and simplify the developer and adopter journey so we can support the NHS to embed the most effective digital technologies within clinical pathways and enable best practice so these tools are used safely and effectively.”
The development and use of digital technology in healthcare has accelerated rapidly in recent years.
Earlier this year, Moderna and IBM announced an agreement aimed at exploring how next generation technologies like quantum computing and generative AI could be used to develop future mRNA medicines.
A new UK study also revealed last month the potential of using AI to help doctors diagnose lung cancer earlier.
Πηγή: pmlive.com
