We continue to see great interest in generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools across UW Medicine. In February, I announced our plans to develop a holistic approach for the use of generative AI in patient care, business applications and clinical research.
In March, the UW Medicine Generative AI (GenAI) Task Force was launched and charged with building on the recommendations from the Large Language Models (LLM) Workgroup. While the work to design and ultimately implement our approach to generative AI will continue through the end of the year, I am pleased to provide an update and highlight some available resources.
Interim Guidance: UW Medicine employees can use publicly available generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, as part of their regular work with limitations. If you are using such tools, please ensure that your use is consistent with our UW Medicine Interim Guidance or send questions to GenAIatUWM@uw.edu.
Interim Intake Process: Our GenAI Task Force established an interim intake process to review and approve generative AI pilot projects that do not meet the current UW Medicine Interim Guidance (e.g., input of protected health information). This centralized intake process enables us to review any risks associated with a pilot project’s functionality and address those risks prior to use and ensure we are deploying and monitoring AI tools responsibly.
If you are interested in the use of generative AI that is not permitted under the current Interim Guidance, please use the UW Medicine IT New Project Request form (AMC login required) to submit your proposal. We have partnered with UW Medicine Information Technology Services (ITS) to forward these proposals to our GenAI Task Force.
Generative AI Pilot Projects: Our GenAI Task Force has approved pilot projects (e.g., Epic ART, Latent, DLMP Chatbot) and has several potential pilot projects currently under consideration (e.g., Ambient AI). In addition, we are piloting Microsoft Copilot in partnership with the University. These pilot projects are being rolled out and carefully evaluated before broader implementation is considered. Visit The Huddle to read about these projects.
Our Approach to Generative AI at UW Medicine: Our GenAI Task Force is in the process of developing the pillars of our future approach to generative AI in the healthcare setting: strategy, leadership, governance, policy, risk assessment, operational workflows and communications and education. You can find more information about this work on The Huddle.
UW Alignment: Our GenAI Task Force is coordinating its work with the UW Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, formed in February 2024 to develop a UW-wide AI strategy.
We are fortunate to have a breadth of generative AI expertise across UW Medicine and the University of Washington. I encourage collaboration to leverage our collective knowledge. If you are engaged in or exploring an application of generative AI, I invite you to connect with the GenAI Task Force.
I will continue to provide regular updates to help you stay informed as the task force develops our comprehensive approach to generative AI. In the meantime, please send any questions to GenAIatUWM@uw.edu or visit The Huddle for additional information and resources.
Sincerely,
Timothy H. Dellit, MD (He, Him, His)
Chief Executive Officer, UW Medicine
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and
Paul G. Ramsey Endowed Dean of the School of Medicine,
University of Washington
