Artificial intelligence is seeping into every corner of aging care, but when it comes to navigating responsible use, the onus is on providers, aging care experts stressed during a recent McKnight’s Tech Summit panel discussion titled “AI ethics and oversight: What providers need to know.”
Unfortunately, no single ethical framework is guiding AI use, and regulations governing the technology still are relatively sparse.
“In the US today, there is really no comprehensive, overarching federal regulation,” said Carlo Perez, chief product officer of SafelyYou, an AI platform specializing in falls detection and prevention. “There’s kind of this growing patchwork of laws and recent executive orders.”
Understanding the evolving regulatory environment and avoiding ethical pitfalls will be keys to success in the emerging landscape of AI-powered care, panelists said. The federal government has enacted some rules on AI, but they are mainly focused on accelerating the technology’s growth rather than regulating its use, Perez noted.
At the state level, guidance can be even more haphazard. Some states are doing little when it comes to AI regulation, whereas others, such as California, are rapidly expanding their privacy laws, which can affect the way providers leverage AI.
Although providers should keep tabs on new state and federal policy developments, they also must be mindful of how AI fits in with existing healthcare regulations, panelists said.
“When you’re dealing with rules like HIPAA and everything else that goes with it, you have to understand that AI is exciting and also scary,” said panelist Peter Ross, CEO of personal care franchisor Senior Helpers.
Privacy is one of providers’ toughest ethical challenges, he said.
“We want to make the human more powerful and more productive, but we also don’t want to take away the actual dignity of the family or the client we’re serving,” Ross explained.
Senior Helpers is using AI for its prediction capabilities, he said. With AI and analytics, the provider is able to monitor clients’ health risks and plan interventions. Meanwhile, other senior living and care providers are using AI to speed up scheduling, improve documentation accuracy and boost recruiting. The technology is helpful, but providers should strive to uphold ethical standards when using it, panelists agreed.
User beware
Since ethical and regulatory standards are lacking, the responsibility of deploying AI ethically largely rests on users, noted Kristen Duell, the founder of Momentum Healthcare and Technology Consulting and a 2024 McKnight’s Pinnacle Award winner.
“Everybody’s learning at the same time,” Duell said. “As a provider, it’s your responsibility to ensure that guardrails are in place.”
Providers have several options when it comes to creating AI guardrails. For instance, they can build out AI governance plans and oversight mechanisms as means of guiding ethical AI use, Duell said.
Other panelists, including Laurie Orlov, founder of industry analysis firm Aging and Health Technology Watch, recommended that providers designate a staff member to become an AI ethics expert.
“I like the idea of having a staff person that you can access — whether it’s across multiple home care settings — one person that is supporting the learning process on the use of AI and how to use it appropriately,” Orlov said.
Providers also should work closely with software vendors to ensure that tools are being developed and deployed responsibly, the experts said. When shopping for AI solutions, make sure to select a trustworthy vendor, they advised.
And before providers sign a long-term contract with an AI vendor, they should test the technology first, according to Orlov.
“Pilots are useful,” Orlov said. “Always pilot first.”
Having ethical AI practices in place not only promotes ethical use; it also signals trustworthiness to residents, patients and clients, panelists offered.
“Trust is the No. 1 thing for operators,” Perez said. “How do we build that trust? And how do we ensure that we’re not just acquiring technology, but that we’re driving outcomes from that technology, and that those outcomes are supported by strong privacy-backed, security-backed, reliable and regulatory-backed policies of vendors?”
The webinar was moderated by McKnight’s Home Care Editor Liza Berger as part of the 2025 McKnight’s Tech Awards + Summit.
It and other elements of the event are available to watch on demand, but free registration is required. Visit mcknights.com/2025techsummit for more information or to register.
Additional coverage of the McKnight’s Tech Awards + Summit will be featured online, in print and on social media byMcKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care.
Sponsors of the 2025 McKnight’s Tech Awards + Summit were Alita, Connexall, Exponential, Groove Technology Solutions, Joerns Healthcare, Onestep, SafelyYou, Sentrics and Viventium.
