Using regulatory intelligence in health practitioner regulation

Many regulators have developed a regulatory intelligence function which can support their risk assessments and anticipate future harms and threats. Regulatory intelligence can be understood as the systematic collection, identification and analysis of behaviours, risks and patterns of non-compliance for regulatory decisions such as risk management, compliance actions, enforcement and allocation of resources. This paper describes its evolving use by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency to identify threats to patient safety and to anticipate and respond to emerging regulatory issues. It discusses the challenges of working with multiple agencies, using artificial intelligence and a range of analytical tools to identify emerging issues and the regulatory tools available to it when regulatory risks are identified.