DAYTON — The CareSource Foundation will put up to $1 million over two years behind a search for responsible artificial intelligence solutions that improve health care for people who rely on Medicaid and people who face barriers to care, the foundation announced on November 10 in a release distributed by PR Newswire.
The initiative, called Advancing AI-Enabled Models for Care and Community Transformation, is a national request for proposals focused on identifying and advancing AI solutions that can deliver meaningful, scalable benefits to individuals and communities, the CareSource Foundation said.
"The real promise of AI in healthcare isn’t the technology itself. It’s what that technology can help us do for people," Erhardt Preitauer, president and CEO of CareSource and president of the CareSource Foundation Board of Trustees, said in the foundation’s announcement. "We want to bring together innovators who understand both the possibilities of AI and the realities facing vulnerable communities."
The foundation is seeking implementation-ready solutions with measurable impact and the potential to scale, it said. Areas of interest include care coordination, early intervention, member engagement, behavioral health, workforce support and rural access. Solutions may use AI to improve care delivery, but the technology should support — not replace — appropriate human judgment and oversight, the foundation said.
Cross-sector collaboration is central to the initiative, according to the announcement: proposals must be led by a qualified nonprofit organization and may bring together technology companies, academic and research institutions, health care organizations and community-based organizations.
"The Foundation has always been focused on bringing people and organizations together to solve complex challenges in the communities we serve," Barbara Mills, the foundation board chair, said in the announcement. "This initiative gives us an opportunity to bring that same approach to AI."
Responsible AI is a condition, not a slogan, in this search: applicants advancing to the second phase will be asked to demonstrate their approaches to data privacy and security, transparency, human oversight, bias mitigation, model validation and ongoing performance monitoring, the foundation said. The selection process runs in two phases, beginning with abbreviated concept proposals; selected applicants will then be invited to submit full proposals.
Since 2006, the CareSource Foundation has awarded more than $39 million to nonprofits working to eliminate poverty, deliver essential services to low- and moderate-income families, promote healthy communities and develop innovative health solutions, according to the foundation. Applications for the new initiative are now open, with the complete request for proposals at caresource.com/foundationgrant, the foundation said. What happens next is the concept-proposal phase: nonprofits with a ready AI idea for Medicaid and underserved communities can apply now for a share of the $1 million, two-year initiative.
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