Speaker: AI can help optometrists ‘practice to the top’ of their license
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INDIANAPOLIS — Effective implementation of AI in optometric practice provides another tool to improve the delivery of care, according to an expert at the Academy 2024 plenary session.
“I don’t see the dynamic changing with how you interact with your patients,” John Bertrand, CEO at Digital Diagnostics, said. “If we do a lot of these things, it can allow you to practice to the top of your license. Health care is a people business. It’s people helping people. AI is just a tool for you to use.”
As CEO at Digital Diagnostics, a company that designs and implements AI systems for diagnosing disease through imaging, Bertrand told attendees: “Whether you’re using AI in your practice, other people are using it and it’s having an impact.”
The biggest impact in optometry right now is in medical diagnosis, he said.
He noted that eye care is leading the way among FDA approvals of AI devices.
“How does this impact the patient?” he asked. “Do [you] really need to become an expert to introduce this in [your] practice?”
Bertrand referred to comments from John Halamka, MD, MS, president of Mayo Clinic Platform: “You don’t need to understand how the electricity works to turn on the light switch.”
Bertrand said, “That’s how I encourage you to look at it. It’s not something you necessarily need to master.”
However, clinicians must determine what is safe for patients and clinically useful.
“In our opinion, I believe that ethics has to be at the core of AI development and adoption if you’re going to apply the same type of ethic or rigor as with any treatment or diagnostic option,” he said.
According to Bertrand, criteria should include improving patient outcomes, the vendor’s mitigation of bias, traceability and stewardship of patient data, rigorous clinical trials, vendor liability and consideration of invisible populations.
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Bertrand J, et al. Plenary: All I need to know about AI. Presented at Academy 2024; Nov. 6-9, 2024; Indianapolis.
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