Briel Advances Bill Barring AI in Emergency Room Triage

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Working to maintain safe health outcomes for Illinoisans seeking emergency hospital services, state Rep. Amy “Murri” Briel, D-Ottawa, is advancing a bill that will limit the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to determine a patient’s priority in a hospital emergency room. 

“It’s our duty as lawmakers to get ahead of the possible harms that stem from technology like AI. Yes, we want our healthcare systems to evolve with today’s modern offerings, but not at the expense of a patient’s treatment. Patients should be assured that they’re being assessed by real doctors and nurses especially in settings like the emergency room where every second counts,” said Briel. 

Briel’s House Bill 4233 limits hospital emergency departments from using “health care kiosks”—digital check-ins used to determine a patient’s medical state to determine their place in line for emergency treatment. Due to little to no human verification with this technology, health care kiosks pose significant risks in misdiagnosing or misinterpreting the patient’s level of emergency leading to further sickness, injury, treatment complications or even preventable deaths. 

Briel’s initiative was influenced by OSF Healthcare’s public plans to integrate AI to predict patient diagnoses and treatments through “advanced analytic systems.” House Bill 4233 ensures a patient’s intake priority is reviewed and assessed by medical professionals, and specifies that health care kiosks may only be used to identify patient contact information and to replace paper billing to ease administrative burden. 

“High-quality care requires advanced training and a very human skillset that can’t be simply replaced,” said Briel. “This bill keeps patients protected, doctors and nurses best informed, and maintains the transparency patients deserve when entering an emergency room.”

House Bill 4233 passed out of the Healthcare Availability & Accessibility Committee unanimously with bipartisan support.