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Aug 28, 2024·Medical Economics

**How artificial intelligence is revolutionizing decision-making in health care** Paola Bianchi Delp discusses the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care. While many doctors are wary of its use, the technology offers significant benefits such as enhancing clinical decision-making, personalizing patient care, and improving administrative efficiency. AI can detect patterns across large populations, enabling proactive intervention and tailored treatments. However, concerns about privacy and data security remain critical. Strategies like new encryption technologies and strict access controls can mitigate these issues, fostering greater trust in AI's ability to improve patient outcomes and streamline health care practices. **The digital Rx for burnout: transforming health care through strategic technology** Sean Slovenski addresses the persistent issue of physician burnout, highlighting the role of technology in alleviating pressures on primary care doctors. High administrative burdens and demanding patient workloads are primary burnout drivers, often exacerbated by pandemic-related challenges. Digital health solutions, such as those developed by PatientPoint, aim to streamline administrative tasks and enhance patient engagement, thereby improving the workplace environment for health professionals. Effective patient communication and education tools can reduce follow-up visits and help physicians maintain a supportive patient-provider relationship, which is crucial for combating burnout and improving overall care quality.

Aug 27, 2024·publication

In 2023, a notable increase in Fortune 500 companies recognizing AI as a risk was reported, rising from 9% in 2022 to 56.2%. This shift follows the introduction of ChatGPT in late 2022. Industries vary significantly in their perception of AI risk, with media and entertainment at 91.7%, software and tech at 86.4%, and healthcare at 65.1%, among others. The automotive industry notably lags, with only 18.8% acknowledging AI as a risk. This highlights the divergence in how different sectors are preparing for the integration and challenges posed by AI technologies.

Aug 27, 2024·HealthLeaders Media

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare is raising significant ethical and practical concerns among nurses, particularly regarding job displacement and the potential loss of human touch in patient care. Chief Nursing Officers (CNOs) are urged to include nurses in decision-making processes to ensure smooth implementation and to mitigate these concerns. Robbie Freeman of Mount Sinai Health System advocates for a collaborative approach, involving data scientists, engineers, and frontline team members in co-designing AI solutions. Alongside other healthcare leaders, Freeman has proposed the "5 Rights of AI in Healthcare," a framework to guide the ethical and effective implementation of AI. The framework emphasizes identifying the right objective, approach, competency, data, and safeguards. These guidelines aim to empower nurse leaders with essential questions for AI implementation, ensuring patient safety and high-quality care while leveraging nursing informatics experts to bridge technology and clinical practice.

Aug 27, 2024·Benzinga

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy reported that the company's AI assistant, Amazon Q, has saved $260 million and 4,500 developer-years of work by significantly cutting down the time needed for software upgrades. Specifically, upgrading an application to Java 17 now takes only a few hours instead of 50 developer days. This AI tool has also improved security and reduced infrastructure costs, despite initial challenges that included incorrect outputs due to a rushed deployment. Amazon plans to continue enhancing Amazon Q to further boost productivity.

Aug 27, 2024·Fierce Healthcare

Epic is advancing its AI capabilities within its electronic health record software to reduce clinician documentation burdens and enhance care delivery. At Epic's User Group Meeting, CEO Judy Faulkner detailed the deployment of AI tools like the MyChart in-basket augmented response technology, which drafts patient message replies, and ambient voice-powered charting tools in use across various healthcare settings. These AI integrations aim to mitigate clinician burnout, with future plans including automated order entries and diagnostic aids. Epic is also leveraging its Cosmos research database to support evidence-based treatment decisions and improve healthcare provider-payer communication.

Aug 27, 2024·Google Blog

In a recent publication, Dr. Megan Jones Bell and her team outline four guiding principles for the responsible development of AI in mental health. Firstly, AI models need thorough ethical and performance-focused design and testing to reliably assist with clinical tasks. Secondly, these models must be trained to reflect diverse populations, addressing equity and preventing biased outcomes. Thirdly, privacy and safety must be prioritized, ensuring informed consent and adherence to data protection laws. Finally, continuous human oversight and feedback are essential throughout AI development to maintain accuracy, inclusivity, and appropriateness. These principles aim to harness AI's potential in expanding access to mental health resources while navigating inherent risks and limitations.

Aug 23, 2024·Becker's Hospital Review

RWJBarnabas Health in West Orange, N.J., is leveraging Epic's Deterioration Index to identify early signs of patient deterioration across its 12 hospitals. The index uses comprehensive patient data to assign risk scores, allowing clinical teams to intervene more rapidly. Implemented systemwide in March 2023, the tool has led to an estimated 100 lives saved and a 15% reduction in inpatient mortality. The rollout involved rigorous validation and adjustments, resulting in a three-tiered alert system to minimize administrative burden and expedite care. Strong communication and clinician engagement were key to the initiative's success, highlighting the potential of predictive models to enhance patient outcomes.

Aug 23, 2024·The Healthcare Blog

In this article, Michael L. Millenson humorously contrasts the responses of ChatGPT and a Magic 8 Ball on solving the longstanding healthcare crisis, focusing on cost, quality, and access issues. Magic 8 Ball gives concise, often ambiguous answers, while ChatGPT provides detailed, multi-faceted responses replete with strategies, challenges, and considerations. Millenson notes that ChatGPT's thoroughness resembles think-tank policy discussions, while the Magic 8 Ball’s brevity underscores the complexity of finding straightforward solutions to healthcare issues. Ultimately, both tools highlight the intricacies of healthcare reform, albeit in drastically different ways.

Aug 23, 2024·The Cap Times

Epic Systems' annual Users Group Meeting showcased new AI tools for healthcare, with presentations highlighting developments that can aid patients, providers, and payers. Among the announcements were AI-driven features to help nurses and doctors communicate with patients, a large database known as Cosmos containing anonymized records of 270 million patients for research, and the Look-Alikes function for treating rare diseases. Additionally, a demo highlighted futuristic MyChart functionalities, including AI-driven patient follow-ups and personalized recovery assessments. Epic's leaders underscored the accelerated pace of innovation, hinting at rapid advancements in integrating AI into healthcare.

Aug 23, 2024·Fierce Healthcare

Epic Systems is advancing rapidly in developing AI and generative AI features for its electronic health records (EHR) software to reduce clinician burnout and improve patient care. At Epic's User Group Meeting, CEO Judy Faulkner emphasized their MyChart ART system, which drafts patient message responses, and new charting tools using ambient voice technology, both currently used by hundreds of healthcare organizations. Additionally, Epic is working on over 100 AI projects, including tools to enhance chart reviews and automate various clinical and administrative tasks. The company is also collaborating with Microsoft to optimize these AI solutions for cost-efficiency and regulatory compliance, and has launched an open-source AI validation tool on GitHub for wider healthcare use.

Aug 23, 2024·CNBC

Epic Systems announced over 100 new AI features at its annual Users Group Meeting, emphasizing applications for both doctors and patients. The company, whose software is widely used in U.S. hospitals and clinics, introduced AI tools to streamline tasks such as drafting patient communications and automating order entries for prescriptions and labs. Epic also plans to develop features for automating insurance claim submissions and introduced a new scheduling application for medical staff. The event included a live demo showcasing a prototype AI agent capable of evaluating patient recovery, although this specific technology is still in the early stages of development.

Aug 22, 2024·HealthTech Magazine

Improving the customer experience (CX) is vital for healthcare organizations, who often view it as a cost center rather than an opportunity. Only 6% of brands improved their CX quality significantly, according to Forrester Research. Key strategies include enhancing contact center solutions with CPaaS platforms and AI, which offer tools like voice bots and contextual data analytics to personalize interactions. Automation and AI can streamline workflows, reduce errors, and support agents in delivering efficient, empathetic service. While bots can alleviate some tasks, there will always be a role for human agents, with AI tools offering support to make interactions more effective and satisfying.

Aug 21, 2024·Healthcare IT News

As interest in AI grows within healthcare, its implementation has shown success predominantly in administrative tasks with fewer clinical applications due to concerns about model transparency and explainability. Neeraj Mainkar, a software engineering expert at Proprio, discusses the critical need for understanding AI decision-making processes in the healthcare sector to ensure patient safety and foster trust. Explainable AI is necessary to trace decision paths, identify and rectify errors, mitigate bias, maintain regulatory compliance, and uphold ethical standards. This approach ensures AI systems are transparent, reliable, and compliant with healthcare regulations like HIPAA, thereby promoting fair and effective patient care.

Aug 20, 2024·Computerworld

Research firm IDC projects that global spending on artificial intelligence (AI) will grow at an annual rate of 29% through 2028, reaching $632 billion. Key drivers for this increase include the integration of AI, especially generative AI (genAI), into various products. Financial services, banking, software, information services, and retail sectors are set to account for 45% of total AI expenditure. While genAI's share will be one-third of overall AI spending, its growth rate is expected to outpace the broader AI market. The U.S. will lead in AI investments, with anticipated spending of $336 billion by 2028. IDC also notes a significant rise in AI software demand, which will comprise more than half of total AI technology spending.

Aug 20, 2024·McKinsey & Company

Health systems worldwide are grappling with challenges like rising costs, workforce shortages, and aging populations while facing increased consumer demands for digital services such as telemedicine. To address these issues, many health systems are prioritizing digital and AI transformation. However, a recent survey of 200 global health system executives revealed that while 75% acknowledge the importance of these transformations, they feel their current investments are insufficient. The survey highlights budget constraints, legacy systems, and a lack of resources as significant barriers. Despite these challenges, executives report high satisfaction in areas where digital investments have been made, indicating potential for substantial benefits if barriers are overcome with strategic investments and partnerships.

Aug 20, 2024·UW Health

A recent National Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, organized by UW Health and Epic, has produced a report with key recommendations for lawmakers. Held on June 5 at the U.S. Capitol, the event gathered 25 experts from health care, technology, academia, and government to discuss the current state and future of AI in health care. The recommendations emphasize implementing AI to alleviate workforce burdens, improve patient outcomes, and ensure equitable access across diverse health systems. The report also calls for federal regulations to balance innovation with patient data safety and tailoring regulations to specific AI applications to benefit both patients and providers.

Aug 20, 2024·POLITICO

**Attacking the AI Bias Problem** Health care systems and university health technology experts have formed VALID AI, an alliance aiming to mitigate bias in artificial intelligence tools used in health care. The initiative, led by UC Davis specialists Dennis Chornenky and Ashish Atreja, seeks to develop AI tools that account for social determinants of health. This includes gathering diverse patient data related to socioeconomic status and access to care to improve health outcomes. VALID AI's diverse member base, including renowned health institutions, aims to train algorithms to detect and reduce biases, ultimately promoting equitable, efficient care. **Uterus Transplants** A study published in JAMA investigates the outcomes of uterus transplants at Baylor University Medical Center, revealing that such procedures enabled 70% of women to conceive and give birth. Although the trial had a small sample size and limited diversity, with only three participants being women of color, the findings are promising for addressing infertility. The next phase of research will involve a more diverse and larger patient group, with efforts to secure insurance coverage for broader access to the procedure. **Diet and Colorectal Cancer in Younger Adults** Cleveland Clinic researchers have linked high consumption of red and processed meats to increased colorectal cancer risk in younger adults. Published in

Aug 19, 2024·publication

As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare becomes more prevalent, there is a critical need for oversight to prevent potential patient harm. This article proposes the establishment of national AI algorithm assurance laboratories to test and certify AI tools, ensuring they are developed using diverse datasets and demonstrate meaningful clinical outcomes in real-world settings before receiving regulatory approval. The goal is to enhance safety, instill confidence among patients and healthcare professionals, and incentivize developers to prioritize these concerns. Effective, rigorous, and rapid testing and certification shared between developers and users are essential for fulfilling the expectations of various stakeholders in the healthcare sector.

Aug 16, 2024·CIO

As generative AI hype begins to wane, IT leaders are advised to recalibrate their strategies by focusing on specialized AI models and setting more realistic goals. The need to integrate a variety of AI forms, rather than solely relying on generative AI, is becoming increasingly apparent. This shift will enable organizations to harness the full potential of AI technologies more effectively.

Aug 15, 2024·Fierce Healthcare

Mayo Clinic is collaborating with SandboxAQ, a startup spun out of Alphabet, to research an AI-enhanced medical device for cardiac diagnostics. The device, known as CardiAQ, utilizes quantum sensing and advanced AI algorithms to enable non-invasive, rapid, and accurate cardiac assessments. The initiative aims to improve clinical diagnosis for conditions like heart attacks, potentially reducing hospital admissions and medical costs. The study involves around 150 patients and is set to run at Mayo Clinic through 2024 and 2025. If successful, the technology could revolutionize cardiac care by providing real-time, bedside diagnostic capabilities.