Whether you know it or not, some form of artificial intelligence (AI) is likely involved in your current health care. AI use in health care will continue to grow exponentially in ways unimaginable just a few years ago. As AI use increases, medicine will improve, which will likely mean less errors and, therefore, less claims. For claims that do arise in the new era of AI use, we can anticipate they will be more complex, cost more to litigate and impact a larger class of patients.
As health care technology grows, two recent cases of interest, Lowe v. Cerner, 2022 WL 17269066 (6th Cir., Nov. 29, 2022) and In re Acclarent, 2024 WL 2873617 (Tex. App. 2024), foreshadow the future of claims associated with electronic medical record (EMR) systems enhanced by AI. Very soon, expect cases involving health care errors to be based on both negligence and products liability principles with reliance on academically trained EMR clinical informatics as experts—which will change the way cases are raised and defended.