A Stanford University radiologist is part of a newly launched medical credentialing agency that’s focused on the growing use of artificial intelligence in medicine.
Physicians spearheading this effort recently incorporated the new not-for-profit, which they’re calling the American Board of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, or ABAIM. They’re developing a series of exams targeted at radiologists and other professionals to help sharpen their know-how in AI, along with both machine and deep learning, according to a Monday announcement.
Two medical experts with the University of Southern California and Children’s Hospital of Orange County formed the new entity, fueled partially by a grant from imaging vendor Guerbet.
“The birth of the ABAIM is a tremendously exciting and major milestone in bringing AI education and certification to all healthcare providers,” Anthony Chang, MD, co-chair of the board and chief intelligence officer at CHOC’s Sharon Disney Lund Medical Intelligence and Innovation Institute, said in a statement. He noted their curriculum will be geared toward an array of professionals beyond radiologists that also include nurses, executives, technicians and patients, among others. “Our vision of creating synergy between healthcare and AI-related technologies will bring about a new paradigm of intelligence-based medicine and transform healthcare for everyone,” he added later.
Orest Boyko, MD, PhD, an associate psychology professor at USC’s Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience Bridge Institute, is the other founder and co-chair. And their board of directors is filled with an array of medical experts from pediatrics to oncology, including Matthew Lungren, MD, an assistant professor of radiology at Stanford University Medical Center, interventional radiologist, and codirector of the school’s Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine & Imaging.
Those who complete the board’s standardized exams will receive certification from the ABAIM, attesting that they have advanced understanding in AI and machine learning. Their hope is that radiologists and others will develop the tools to “analyze the benefits and pitfalls of these technologies in real-world scenarios,” along with bolstering medicine’s participation in the development of these new tools, according to the announcement.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.