“OCHIN, a national nonprofit learning network for health equity research and innovation, has been selected to lead the data and research component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) AIM-AHEAD program, a new artificial intelligence and machine learning consortium to advance health equity and researcher diversity.”
“Under the overall leadership of the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, the $50 million NIH initiative brings together experts in community engagement, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), health equity research, data science training, and data infrastructure to close two significant gaps in the AI/ML field: a lack of diversity in its researchers and lack of diversity in data used to train AI/ML models for industry use. Left unaddressed, these gaps threaten to exacerbate bias, racism, and inequity in the health care system, widening national health disparities.”
“’We’re proud to support this important NIH initiative because we believe that technology can, and should, drive equitable health care innovation,’ said Abby Sears, CEO of OCHIN. ‘AI and machine learning are powerful tools to reduce clinical burden and optimize health care delivery, but their development must include the experiences and aspirations of underrepresented communities if we hope to design a health care system that effectively serves everyone.'”
“OCHIN provides affordable electronic health record (EHR) and integrated clinical support services to nearly 1,000 community health care sites that deliver high-quality care to millions of underinsured and systemically underserved patients nationwide. As the consortium’s Data & Research Core, OCHIN will leverage its 21 years of expertise in health equity research and clinical quality improvement across a national network of community-based providers to advance the goals of the AIM-AHEAD program, in partnership with leading experts from diverse academic institutions across the country…” Read the full press release here.
Source: OCHIN Joins NIH Funded AI/ML Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity – October 7, 2021. OCHIN.
