Industry Watcher’s Digest

Buzzworthy developments of the past few days.

• What would you do if offered the chance to let AI read your X-rays for an additional fee not covered by your insurance? If you’re like many if not most people, you’d say something akin to: “Wait. What?” A reporter at KFF Health News had the experience while getting her last mammogram. “I had no idea how to evaluate that offer,” she writes. “Feeling upsold, I said no.” To find out what happened next—and what the reporter found out about the possible trend when she dug into it—click here.
   
• The GPT Store welcomes you inside. OpenAI opened its virtual doors this week. It’s actually more like a club than a shop since the 3 million or so chatbots “in stock” aren’t for sale but, instead, free to ChatGPT subscribers. They’re developed by users of the large language model who are happy to share their creations with fellow enthusiasts. Announcement here, browsable aisles here.
   
• Best to maintain some skepticism when asking Dr. GenAI about your symptoms. So advise Yale physicians who are offering some tips for wise use of the technology. The cheat sheet is pretty basic but may be worth a share with a healthcare consumer close to you.
   
• In 2024, generative AI for healthcare will optimize administrative work, set the stage for broad transformation to come and reveal its own best practices. These are the predictions of Aashima Gupta, Google Cloud’s global director for healthcare strategy and solutions. Look not for sweeping changes that strike like lightning, she advises, but for incremental and overlapping advances that accumulate like snow. Yes, that’s a paraphrase. Gupta’s own words are here.
   
• Government leaders at the state level have been scrambling to keep up with AI. Take Maryland. This week Gov. Wes Moore signed an executive order laying out principles he believes will “ensure that we integrate AI into the work of state government in a responsible and ethical way.” Synopsis of particulars here.
   
• Research into new uses of medical AI is everywhere, but this ranks among the coolest studies of the week. Molecular biologists at Northwestern U have come up with an algorithm that predicts patients’ circadian rhythms from a single blood sample. These phases are of course tied to sleep patterns. But, as a scholarly study reviewer points out, the blood test capability could make circadian science “a valuable tool for diverse applications in medical research, clinical settings and the exploration of circadian rhythms’ roles in various diseases, including cancer.” Review with link to journal study here.
   
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise is plunking down $14 billion for Juniper Networks. Why? To speed up HPE’s embrace of AI-driven innovation. The companies have posted a polite joint announcement itemizing various rationales, but the main motive for HPE’s move is better captured by the Financial Times. “Twenty-five years on from the dotcom internet bubble,” FT remarks, “the tech sector is entering an artificial intelligence frenzy.”
   
• From AIin.Healthcare’s news partners:
   
  • Radiology Business: GE HealthCare to acquire Cleveland-based provider of AI imaging-analysis software
  • Cardiovascular Business: Imaging specialists partner with Pfizer to deliver AI-powered cardiac amyloidosis evaluations
  • Health Imaging: AI tool for detecting nodules in lung X-rays cleared by FDA