Dena Mendelsohn, Privacy Officer & Sr. Compliance Manager, Transcarent
It’s an exciting time as advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology make what was once impossible, possible. When we look back, I think we’ll find that the success stories embraced two foundational principles: dream big and innovate responsibly.
I couldn’t be any prouder of our team at Transcarent, because this is exactly what we’re doing: responsibly putting novel technology to work to accomplish a big dream, finally fixing how we get health and care in America. We are reimagining the health and care experience so our Members can instantly get answers to benefits and healthcare questions, connect to trusted guidance to take the next step, and access on-demand care.
Our people-first culture values safety and trust and fuels our commitment to lead the healthcare industry with a human-centered approach to AI development. Our clinicians are active participants in the development of AI at Transcarent. They don't just test the AI, they are part of the design and build. Our approach reinforces safety, earns trust, ensures quality care, and sets precedents for ongoing responsible innovation. Getting healthcare is inherently a human experience, and this reinforces why we’re putting AI to work to enhance the capabilities of our team, not replace them or their unique skills sets. It’s an approach that we believe is applicable across all industries.
Our clients and policymakers have recognized the excellence of our practices. Government leaders consistently look to Transcarent for guidance with invitations to notable healthcare AI thought leadership gatherings in Washington, D.C. In the last year, our team has been invited to:
Testify before the House Committee on Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health. Our Benjamin Nguyen, MD, Transcarent Lead Product Manager for Artificial Intelligence, shared how AI can expand access to care, reduce physician administrative burdens, and the need for safeguards to maintain trust.
Participate in the Senate AI Caucus’ Health AI Demo Day on Capitol Hill on July 24, 2024.
Sign the White House Voluntary Commitments for Generative AI, an agreement where leading AI companies pledge to prioritize safety, security, and transparency in AI development to manage risks and protect public interests.
Leading responsible healthcare innovation
Being a leader in healthcare AI governance is core to our mission and we have intentionally established a framework to proactively set standards and precedents for our team and the industry in the following ways:
Convening an internal AI Governance Committee (AIGC): The Transcarent AI Governance Committee (AIGC) is an internal leadership group that oversees development, deployment, and use of AI at Transcarent with a focus on safety, responsibility, and compliance, by providing oversight, guidance, and accountability. It remains up to date on AI compliance requirements both nationally and at the state level. The committee is comprised of a cross-section of Transcarent leadership who are responsible for establishing guidelines and expectations for how AI is to be used internally by our teams and externally to serve our Members. The AIGC proposes specific recommendations regarding impact assessments, data security, and product development. It also oversees related AI policies and compliance training. We believe this is one of the first committees of its kind in a healthcare startup. In fact, internal AI governance is so rare, that in 2023, only 10% of organizations had a formal AI policy and about a quarter expressly prohibited the use of generative AI, giving up the benefits of the technology to avoid the complications of governance.
Establishing AI Ethics Principles: We’ve established principles that set guardrails for how we put AI to work. Rooted in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) principles and the White House Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, we have tailored our principles to our unique business and values. Transcarent AI Ethics Principles are built on a human-centered foundation that supports our Members and internal teams. These principles coexist with the Transcarent Code of Conduct and Ethics to ensure that our team and our Members understand our values and expectations around how we should interact with AI and how AI should interact with us. They set standards for privacy, security, safety, truth, transparency, equitable design, explainability, and respect to ensure that people and their needs stay at the center of innovation.
Active participation in the Data & Trust Alliance (D&TA). The D&TA is developing practices that enhance trust in data, AI models, and in the people and processes through which they are deployed. As a member of the Data & Trust Alliance (D&TA), Transcarent collaborates with leading global companies to create transparent and trustworthy AI data standards that promote responsible use and provide real value to inform policy creation. We believe that trust in data requires understanding its origin – where it comes from, how it was created, and whether it may be used. As a member of the D&TA Leadership Council, I am proud of Transcarent’s deep involvement in establishing the first cross-industry data provenance standards to bring transparency to the origins of datasets. This is vital to ensuring that the data that feeds AI models comes from known and trustworthy sources so that AI can create true value for people, businesses, and society.
With my recent passing of the IAPP AI Governance Professional certification exam, I’m especially excited about my involvement in D&TA thought leadership on AI governance. We recently published a white paper with recommendations for how policymakers can reduce potential harms that directly affect peoples’ lives while encouraging innovation that will help many, by offering principles for policymaking around high-risk use cases where AI is used to make consequential decisions.
We take our position as a leader in healthcare AI very seriously at Transcarent. While we’re proud to lead in this area – and know our work has set a strong foundation – we also believe that initiatives like this should be table stakes for any organization that embraces the risk and potential of AI. This technology is a powerful tool that will profoundly change many industries, including healthcare. We must harness that power for responsible change and innovation. We call on all companies that are incorporating AI into their business models to do so in a responsible way. For business, especially those in healthcare, AI must be more than a talking point or an add-on to existing models. This technology must be adopted and governed to always prioritize the safety, trust, and equality of the people who use it.
