Manitoba college releases guidance on responsible use of AI

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba (CPSM) has released a new set of guidelines on the responsible use of generative AI tools, calling on doctors to practice informed consent with patients on the use of these tools and be aware of the limitations of this technology.“Overall, the use of GenAI in healthcare should minimize potential data-related harm and promote the equitable delivery of safe quality care,” the college said in its advice to the profession last week.The CPSM’s advice covers disclosure and informed consent, potential biases, data security and avoiding harms to the health system. The college says it “acknowledges the enormous potential” of the technology, but says there are “significant ethical, legal and professional challenges that accompany its use, including relating to over-reliance.”More and more doctors have been using AI scribes to cut down on their administrative workload. Scribes are currently the most popular use of generative AI, but the CPSM warns that improper documentation and recording could lead to patient harm.“Registrants should assume they are required to retain the complete recording, or transcript if one is generated, as part of the patient record. Additionally, this would be prudent for medico-legal reasons, including if the completeness or accuracy of the encounter notes comes into question,” the college wrote.In addition, physicians should “verify and validate any GenAI-generated content” before entering it into the patient record and “not attempt to hide” the use of this technology.Patients should be informed about how the technology was used, the capabilities and limitations, and what safeguards have been put in place to ensure reliability and manage bias, the CPSM said.On privacy, the CPSM said doctors should be careful to not expose a patient’s personally identifiable information when using generative AI and says a privacy impact assessment should be conducted before using the technology.The college also warns that these tools may have been trained on biased training data and says members should “use caution in interpreting AI generated content, accounting for the demographics and health context of the patient they are assessing.”The CPSM isn’t the first regulatory college to issue advice on the use of AI. Similar guidelines have also been released by colleges in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario.

Manitoba college releases guidance on responsible use of AI

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