ROLE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN PHARMACY PRACTICE

To embrace artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool with tremendous potential to improve patient care and the medication-use process through the enhancement of pharmacy practice; further,

To recognize that AI technologies offer innovative ways to gather clinical knowledge, assist learners, enhance educational experiences, and streamline administrative processes; further,

To advocate for standards, policies, and procedures that permit the use of AI in circumstances in which it has proven safe and effective as an augmentation of pharmacy services and to ensure safeguards along with its implementation; further,

To encourage the adoption of policies regarding the use of AI and ongoing surveillance of these tools to maintain professional integrity; further,

To advocate for pharmacy workforce involvement and transparency in the decision-making, design, validation, implementation, and ongoing evaluation of AI-related applications and technologies; further,

To recognize that ethical considerations must guide the development and use of AI in pharmacy practice, and to oppose any use of AI that compromises human interaction or replaces ethical decision-making, professional judgment, critical thinking, or the safety and effectiveness of pharmacy services.

Rationale

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an emerging technology described as intelligent computer programs or software capable of learning human cognition and processes. AI is a valuable tool for hospitals and health systems that can improve healthcare outcomes for the benefit of patients and augment capabilities of the pharmacy workforce. AI falls under two categories: machine learning (ML) for data set analysis and natural learning processes for information extraction from existing data. AI technology has evolved at an immense speed, and healthcare organizations have been increasingly digitizing data. Therefore, organizations must determine AI’s use to improve patient-specific care on a grand scale without compromising patient safety and outcomes, and how to retain the expertise, autonomy, and humanity (e.g., empathy, compassion, and ethical decision making) of the interprofessional care team.

The potential benefits of AI in patient care include, but are not limited to, optimizing patient outcomes, improving implementation of high reliability principles, decreasing process variability, increasing evidence-based practices, streamlining Non-Relative Value Unit (RVU) generating processes, and re-focusing providers on clinical functions. The rapid advancement of generative AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, has also introduced new possibilities in the realm of education. These technologies appear to offer innovative ways to assist learners, enhance educational experiences, and streamline administrative processes.

The pharmacy workforce should collaborate with other healthcare professionals, professional organizations, and stakeholders to research, develop, implement, and improve the quality of AI/ML-based clinical models that affect medication-use processes and tasks. This collaborative team should ensure seamless integration of AI into the broader healthcare ecosystem, promoting the sharing of best practices and knowledge. The pharmacy workforce should maintain competence and continuing education in AI-related technologies that will advance pharmacy practice. Healthcare providers must recognize the need for sufficient purview and monitoring to guarantee patient safety and effective therapy. Risk should be formally assessed and mitigated as necessary. AI vendors and the pharmacy workforce independently have the responsibility to understand how AI solutions are functioning, impacting pharmacy clinical workflows, protecting patient data privacy and security standards, maintaining compliance with all relevant legal statutes, and identifying limitations in supporting practice and clinical services. Additional and applicable expectations for vendors can also be found in ASHP policy 2610, Risk Assessment of Health Information Technology.

Risks of AI use in patient care may include potential for breaches in patient privacy and safety, failure to incorporate ethical and moral decision-making, lack of transparency, automation biases, and narrow algorithm development that does not account for diverse populations and threatens to widen health disparities in underrepresented patient populations. Given these risks, the pharmacy workforce and other healthcare professionals must retain oversight of AI applications and their implementation. The pharmacy workforce should have access to mechanisms to report AI-caused errors or adverse events. Healthcare organizations, hospitals, and colleges of pharmacy should develop policies, procedures, and guidelines to determine which care settings, medications, and patient populations are appropriate candidates for the use of AI. Even if AI technology eventually accounts for every possible variable, final decision-making should be left to the healthcare team to mitigate its inherent risks and biases. Integration of AI tools also raises concerns about academic integrity, plagiarism, and the potential for unethical use that could undermine the educational process. As such, hospitals, health systems, and colleges of pharmacy should adopt policies regarding the appropriate use of AI across the continuum of learning, from didactic to experiential, and within the clinical learning environment.

The pharmacy workforce should consider the transformative potential of AI in pharmacy practice, but also the ethical, professional, and practical considerations associated with its integration. These principles provide the pharmacy workforce a roadmap to navigate the evolving landscape of AI while upholding the highest standards of patient care and professional responsibilities.