HHS Health IT director: Biggest Challenges in Health IT are Privacy and AI Integration

The two most pressing challenges in health tech are privacy and the integration of AI, said Micky Tripathi the national coordinator for health IT at HHS. Mr. Tripathi spoke to Politico about the challenges ahead for integrating more technology into the U.S. healthcare system in an interview published April 27.

Here are the challenges he highlighted in the interview:

• As more information goes into the hands of patients, it becomes less protected. Hospitals and physicians are HIPAA-protected entities, but when the data leaves, it is no longer protected by HIPAA.
  
   
• AI is still in its early stages and there's a lot of "black box-edness" to the world of algorithms. This is causing clinicians to be confused about where and why this tech is delivering these results, leading to hesitancy around implementing these applications.

Despite his concerns, Mr. Tripathi expressed that there is a huge opportunity for the applications of AI in healthcare that would allow a much more tailored experience for patients that could lead to better and more efficient care.