Investors have jumped on artificial intelligence as the next big thing in healthcare, with billions flowing into AI-enabled digital health startups in recent years.
But technology has yet to transform medicine in the way many predicted, Ben and Ruth report.
“Companies come in promising the world and often don’t deliver,” Bob Wachter, head of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, told Future Pulse. “When I look for examples of … real AI and machine learning that are really making a difference, they are very few and far between. It’s quite overwhelming.”
Administrators say algorithms from third-party firms often don’t work seamlessly because each health system has its own technology, so hospitals are developing their own AI in-house. But it’s moving slowly—searches of job postings show that health care has lagged in every industry except construction.
The FDA is working on a model to regulate AI, but it’s still in its infancy.
“There is an inherent inconsistency between the pace of software development and government regulation of medical devices,” said Kristin Zielinski Duggan, a partner at Hogan Lovells.
Questions remain about how regulators can curb AI’s shortcomings, including biases that threaten to exacerbate health disparities. For example, a 2019 study found that a common hospital algorithm more often directed white patients to programs that offer more personalized care than black patients.
And when providers build their own AI systems, they typically aren’t vetted the way commercial software is, allowing flaws to go unpatched for longer than they otherwise would. Furthermore, with data often shared between health systems, the lack of quality data to power algorithms is another obstacle.
But AI has shown promise in a number of medical specialties, particularly radiology. NYU Langone Health has worked with Facebook’s AI Research Group (FAIR) to develop AI that allows an MRI to take 15 minutes instead of an hour.
“We’ve taken 80 percent of the human effort out of it,” said John D. Halamka, president of the Mayo Clinic platform, which has an algorithm in a clinical trial that aims to reduce the lengthy process of devising a surgical plan for removal. of complex tumors.
And in another success story, Ochsner Health of Louisiana developed AI that detects early signs of sepsis, a life-threatening infection.
Micky Tripathi, HHS’s national health information technology coordinator, says AI can resemble sports broadcasting systems that highlight a team’s chance of winning at any given moment in the game. In health care, an electronic health record system can give doctors a patient’s risk profile and the steps they may need to take.
“This will go down as one of the most important, if not the most important, transformative phases of medicine,” said Eric Topol, founder of the Scripps Translational Research Institute. “A lot of heavy lifting remains to be done.”
Welcome back to The pulse of the future, where we explore the convergence of healthcare and technology. Tiny blood draws from babies, used to screen for disease, are now also being used in criminal investigations to indict their parents! What a world.
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ABORTION REGULATION – More Democrats are supporting companion legislation from Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) that would make it harder for online firms to share personal data.
Jacobs is touting her bill, the My Body My Data Act, in response to Nebraska police’s seizure of Facebook messages between a woman and her daughter that allegedly revealed a plan to encourage an illegal abortion beyond the 20-week mark of the state.
Similar bills from Jacobs and Hirono would limit the data firms can collect, protect personal health information not currently covered by the HIPAA health privacy law, and give the FTC the power to enforce the act along with a private right of action.
Ninety-three representatives have signed, along with 13 senators. Without GOP support, the bill cannot pass the Senate, but Jacobs encourages state lawmakers to follow her lead in their capitols.
BIDEN MARKS HEALTH CARE, CLIMATE BILL – President Joe Biden signed legislation Tuesday that will allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices in an effort to lower costs.
Starting in 2026, the legislation allows Medicare to negotiate with manufacturers for 10 expensive drugs, expanding over the decade. The costs of cancer, HIV and diabetes drugs may be factored into the negotiations, according to SVB Securities.
Biden’s signature marks the biggest victory for Democrats since taking control of both houses of Congress and the White House in January 2021, POLITICO’s Sarah Ferris and Jordain Carney report.
Parts of the drug negotiations came despite fierce opposition from the pharmaceutical industry, which argued the legislation would stifle innovation.
Something to see: Steve Ubl, president of PhRMA, the drug industry’s lobbying group, said members who support the bill won’t “get a free pass” and that one of PhRMA’s member companies would delist 15 drugs if the bill were passed. law.
BRUTAL CYBER SECURITY NUMBERS — Nearly 6 in 10 hospital and health system executives said their organizations had at least one cyberattack in the past two years, according to new data from cybersecurity company Cynerio and cybersecurity think tank Ponemon Institute.
The report also notes that the attacks — which cost an average of about $10 million — are often repeated: Among victims, 82 percent were hit by four or more attacks during the time period.
And the damage is not only financial — About 1 in 4 cyber attacks resulted in increased mortality leading to delayed care, according to the report.
UNITED TELEHEALTH – The nation’s largest health insurer has seen patients gravitate toward telemedicine in a plan called Surest, which gives enrollees up-front pricing.
Given the costs, enrollees choose telemedicine visits 10 times more often than people in typical plans and go to the emergency room or undergo surgery less often.
“When a customer goes out there and asks [care] …, we’re able to say, ‘Hey, did you know that the virtual visit offer is a zero co-pay?’” Alison Richards, CEO of Surest, told Future Pulse. “That’s where we’re seeing that growth in virtual care.”
Many other large insurers offer “virtual first” plans that push patients toward telemedicine before in-person care.
RACIAL DISPARITIES IN HOSPITAL PROFITS — Revenue and profit per patient are lower in hospitals that serve the highest percentage of Black Medicare patients.
“U.S. hospital funding effectively places a lower dollar value on care for black patients,” a study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found.
Researchers from UCLA, Johns Hopkins and Harvard Medical School examined earnings at 574 hospitals that served high rates of black patients. Profits were an average of $111 lower per patient day in hospitals and revenues were $283 lower.
“Equalizing reimbursement levels would require $14 billion in additional payments to black-serving hospitals in 2018, an average of about $26 million per black-serving hospital,” the researchers found. “Healthcare financing reforms must eliminate the underpayment of hospitals that serve a large proportion of black patients.”
TELEREHABILITATION CAN IMPROVE BACK PAIN – Good news for the quarter of Americans who suffer from acute back pain: It can be treated remotely.
A recent study found that a 12-week telehealth program from a Portuguese company called Sword Health significantly reduced pain, depression, anxiety and productivity in those who completed it.
The program, supervised by a physical therapist, includes a combination of exercise, education and psychotherapy.
Of the approximately 338 people who completed the study, more than half reported a significant reduction in their disability and 61 percent experienced decreased pain.
Friction is that there is no friction: The program does not work for everyone. Some patients with acute back pain need more practical help, such as massage or spinal manipulation, and digital rehabilitation cannot do this.
OTC HEARING AIDS GET FDA APPROVAL – The FDA has created regulatory guidelines for hearing aids that manufacturers can sell over the counter, POLITICO’s David Lim reports. Until now, patients needed a prescription.
The change could bring new competition to the hearing aid market. On average, a prescription hearing aid costs approximately $2,300, although some cost as much as $6,000, according to Consumer Affairs.
The rule will take effect in 60 days. Manufacturers who want to sell existing products over the counter will have 240 days to comply with technical requirements and rules aimed at ensuring OTC hearing aids are easy to use without a doctor’s help.
Eye implant made from pig skin proteins restores sight to 14 blind people – NBC News
Parents, doctors say private equity gain fixation is short-change for children with autism – STAT
Google Maps regularly misleads people looking for abortion clinics – Bloomberg
