The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) is permeating many aspects of our personal and professional lives. In health care, AI technology is becoming increasingly important in operational efficiency, diagnostic performance, and patient management. AI will become the dominant challenge in healthcare regulation over the next decade. Protecting the public with appropriate patient safeguards while not inhibiting technology growth and innovation will be the major challenge that medical regulation will face.
In an original research article, “Principles-based Approach to Regulation of Artificial Intelligence in Professional Work: Perspectives of Health Professionals’ Regulators,” (page 24) Paul Gregory and Zubin Austin examine regulator perspectives on whether and how regulatory tools should be used in the oversight of AI. The importance of human-in-the loop AI and human-out-of-the-loop AI is discussed. In their accompanying commentary “The Wicked Problem of Regulation of Artificial Intelligence in Health Professionals’ Work: Whose Job is it Anyway?” (page 16) Austin and Gregory discuss competing perspectives on what role health professional regulators should have in managing AI.
Applications for licensing by state medical boards often include questions about existing complaints and investigations. There is a concern that such questions may have unintended consequences for fairness, due process, and physician mobility. In the original research article “State Medical Boards’ Difficult Balance: Patient Safety vs. Provider Safeguards,” (page 36) Michelle Benoit, Katherine O’Hanlan, and Maxwell Mar examine primary licensure applications from fifty US states, two US territories, and the District of Columbia. The authors conclude that questions about investigations and complaints are unlikely to identify moral or quality issues. They further opine this aspect of the application process may cause professional or personal harm to the applicants and licensees.
Physician Associates may face licensing and workforce barriers that impede their ability to practice in various states. In the commentary, “If Not You, Then Who? Reflections on Legislative Advocacy and Licensing Barriers as a Physician Associate,” (page 10) Echo Kopplin discusses the transformative power of sustained relationship-based advocacy. The author discusses how a dedicated commitment to professional advocacy contributed to the successful passage of a 2025 Physician Associate Practice Modernization Bill in South Dakota.
