Dr. Essam Hamza reports

TREATMENT.COM AI FUNDED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH TO DEVELOP A CULTURALLY SENSITIVE AI APPROACH TO HEALTH EQUITY

Treatment.com AI Inc. has received funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to develop a culturally sensitive artificial intelligence approach for collecting family medical history.

Treatment.com has partnered with Rush River Research in Minneapolis to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) approach for collecting information about family medical history that is culturally sensitive and appropriate for African-American families. Current methods used by clinicians to collect family medical histories often do not satisfactorily capture important information from blended families or non-traditional relationships commonly found in racial or ethnic minority communities. The historical trauma and systemic bias common in African-American communities can limit the amount of information known about the health of relatives. Without better methods for capturing information, existing health disparities addressing prevention and risk can persist. In collaboration with Rush River Research, Treatment.com is using its proprietary artificial intelligence capabilities to change how family health is collected and recorded to address existing disparities. The company held multiple focus groups with African-American doctors and community members to help develop and prototype culturally sensitive approaches to collecting information about family health.

As part of its work building the world's most comprehensive and integrated on-line medical library powered by AI (the Global Library of Medicine), Treatment.com is aggressively acting to ensure that diagnostic and treatment information in the future will be provided by platforms that are free of the inequity commonly reflected in medical AI programs today. By convening focus groups of African-Americans to evaluate Treatment.com's platform and provide insights and suggestions, the company ensures a rich and diverse perspective will inform the platform's continuous improvement.

The family history solution has been initially developed through a prototype that integrates into the Treatment.com AI platform. As continued improvements in the solution are made, they will be provided to Treatment.com for testing and implementation into future generations of the Global Library of Medicine platform.

Treatment.com and Rush River Research have recently submitted an expanded phase 2 grant proposal to the NIH to extend the work. The goal of the proposal is to move the prototype into a commercial solution which will promote adoption and integration into electronic health records and on-line apps.

Dr. Kevin Peterson, MD, MPH, FRCS(Ed), FAAFP, chief medical officer, stated: "Old data approaches inevitably reflect old biases. Treatment confronts issues of historical bias by reinventing how data about families is collected and stored to reflect the realities of modern life."

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