Recent news and commentary covering technology in U.S. healthcare

Smarter health: How AI could change the relationship between you and your doctor

“Trust is really based on a series of promises that have been kept. And so when I think about what’s going to break down the barriers of people with AI and some of their chronic disease conditions, if the combination of predictions and interventions are improving all over the course of time. And I get something that’s better for me, than just the gestalt of my well-meaning and smart physician, then I’m all in for that. And I think that’s the way the public is going to react in the long term.”

(Dr. Vindell Washington, Chief Clinical Officer of the Verily Health Platforms group and CEO of Onduo, on WBUR — June 2022)

Barriers of artificial intelligence implementation in the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea

“Artificial intelligence systems offer benefits to the diagnostic approach and treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), improving accuracy and utilization of resources. The barriers identified were categorized into different themes including technology, data, regulation, human resources, education, and culture. Many of these challenges are ubiquitous across artificial intelligence implementation in any medical diagnostic setting. Future research directions include developing solutions to the barriers presented in this project.”

(Journal of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery — April 2022)

Technology is expanding virtual access to health care. Here’s how to ensure equitable outcomes

“Many experts see virtual technology as a promising tool for eliminating barriers to health care and addressing long-standing global health inequities. But that promise is far from assured. Many people have no internet access or lack the digital literacy needed to engage remotely with care practitioners or benefit from health-promoting services. … Unless policymakers, health providers, and end users work together to better guide the process, the shift to virtually delivering health and care will create new digital barriers that leave millions of people unable to access the care they need.”

(STAT News — June 2022)

US Elderly Skimp on Food, Clothes to Pay for Health Care

“Older Americans are sacrificing basic necessities to afford costly health services, according to a survey that shows how many elderly people cut personal expenses to take care of medical needs. Out-of-pocket health costs for elders in the US rose 41% from 2009 to 2019, according to findings from analytics firm Gallup Inc. and West Health, a nonprofit that focuses on senior care.”

(Bloomberg — June 2022)

Universal healthcare as pandemic preparedness: The lives and costs that could have been saved during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 outbreak has underscored the societal vulnerabilities that arise from the fragmented healthcare system in the United States. Universal healthcare coverage decoupled from employment and disconnected from profit motivations would have stood the country in better stead against a pandemic. Emergence of virulent pathogens is becoming more frequent, driven by climate change and other global forces. Universal single-payer healthcare is fundamental to pandemic preparedness. We determined that such a system could have saved 211,897 lives in 2020 alone. Strikingly, it would have done so at lower cost than the current healthcare system, saving the US $459 billion in 2020 at a time of economic tumult.”

(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences — June 2022)

Confessions of a ‘dangerous’ health CEO

“Technology has always been a core part of health care delivery. I mean, all you’ve got to do is go into any ICU or any operating room and they’re basically tech centers. But what we haven’t been doing is we haven’t been using technology to maximize the customer relationship, patient relationship, remote monitoring or to help with the transitions of care among the various components of healthcare. We haven’t been maximizing the use of AI, for example. It’s one of our top priorities for the next decade and beyond because technology’s only going to continue to be more creative and innovative.”

(Michael Dowling, CEO of Northwell Health, the largest health system in New York, in Politico — June 2022)

It will take years for AI use to peak in drug discovery and development process

“While the application of AI in R&D is gaining prominence, AI is limited by the quality of the data it has to process. The technology does hold the promise to improve the drug discovery and development process by making it faster and more cost-effective; however, AI needs good-quality data to produce meaningful results.”

(Pharmaceutical Technology — June 2022)