Healthcare AI today: Senate arguments, aging infrastructure, ‘elastic’ jobs, more

News you need to know about now: 

• Senate Republicans are of two minds on AI in the One Big Beautiful Bill. As the GOPers revise the tax and spending package passed by the House last month, battle lines are coming clearer. One provision causing friction would bar states from regulating AI for 10 years. The clause isn’t dedicated solely to AI. It would give the federal government the right to oversee commercial activities involving business among states. Still, its language on AI is emerging as a hot sub-button issue in the present states’ rights vs. federal power debate roiling Senate Republicans. “The Constitution gives Congress the authority to regulate commerce between the states, and AI is quintessentially commerce between the states,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told The Hill June 18. Cruz added that “having a patchwork of 50 different standards” would be devastating to the development of AI. Georgia Sen. Marjorie Taylor Greene begged to differ. “I will not vote for any bill that takes away states’ rights, ability to regulate and make laws when it regards humans and AI.” More from The Hill’s roundup:  
   
  • “I personally don’t think we should be setting a federal standard right now and prohibiting the states from doing what we should be doing in a federated republic. Let the states experiment.”—Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)
     
  • “I support getting the moratorium in place so that Congress has the opportunity. Then we’ve got the hard work of actually doing appropriate legislation to lay out the path forward.”—Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) 
     
  • “I’m glad that some Republicans are raising their voice. But do they have enough political strength to have that provision removed?”—Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.)
     
    • Get the rest of the article here and coverage from other outlets here. 
       
• More than 95% of healthcare IT leaders say they’re using legacy—read as outdated—computer systems. The reliance on rickety machinery is troubling given healthcare’s headlong rush into hardware-hungry AI. So observes Shash Anand, a senior VP at the mobile platform supplier SOTI, which recently surveyed the field around the world. “To benefit from innovative technology, healthcare organizations must have strengthened backend systems to enhance productivity and security,” Anand says in commenting on the survey’s findings. “We learned [this strengthening] is not the case for many healthcare organizations.” The survey showed almost two-thirds of healthcare organizations are using unintegrated, outdated systems for IoT and telehealth medical devices. “This impacts interoperability such as accessing real-time patient data all in one place and increasing security vulnerabilities,” SOTI survey analysts remark. “Globally, 59% of organizations face downtime/tech issues, and 45% say legacy systems make networks vulnerable to attack.” More findings and analysis are here. 
   
• Here’s another warning about AI-involved security risks. “I’ve seen the evolution of [healthcare] cyber threats firsthand. But the rise of AI-driven ransomware is unlike anything we’ve faced before.” That’s from Barry Mathis of the healthcare IT consultancy PYA.  He’s been in his line of work for decades. In a Q&A with HIMSS Media, Mathis suggests the availability of AI-based vulnerability scanning means bad actors can now identify and exploit weaknesses with smash-and-grab efficiency. “Healthcare organizations must take a hard look at their current security frameworks,” Mathis says, “and move toward more advanced and adaptive protections.” Hear what else he has to say on the subject. 
   
• Pathologists and other lab specialists are looking to AI. Now they can worry less about radiologists heckling them with comments like “What took you so long?” A quarter of a surveyed sample of lab leaders tell the software vendor Proscia that they like AI for its facilitation of accurate and precise diagnoses. Significant swaths also appreciate emerging automation technologies  for improving efficiency (30%) and contributing to molecular and genetic testing (29%). “These findings reflect a shift away from short-term fixes and toward longer-term transformation powered by solutions including digital pathology and AI,” the authors of the survey report write. Read a summary of key findings here and the full report here.
   
• AI and other emerging technologies are changing the way drug companies market their wares directly to consumers. As the trend gathers steam, the need to balance data protection with responsible use will force the companies—we won’t call them pushers even jokingly—to come up with sophisticated strategies. Two execs with life-sciences advisor and vendor Iqvia describe the opportunities and challenges at hand in an article published by PharmExec.com June 17. “AI can transform audience modeling and development while meeting high consumer-protection standards,” they write. “By using only what’s necessary and transforming data into abstracted insights, we reduce unnecessary exposure and build systems that are inherently more secure, resilient and resistant to misuse.” Yes, but will the resulting messaging prompt healthcare consumers to take the actions desired by the AI-wielding marketing minds? I don’t know, but suddenly I can’t get the catchy Jardiance song out of my mind. “I have Type 2 diabetes, but I manage it well/It’s a little pill with a big story to tell …” Now you probably have the jingle stuck in your head too. If so, I’m sorry about that. Either way, read the interesting article. 
   
• Healthcare will prove less vulnerable than other economic sectors to AI-caused job losses. So predicts computer and cognitive scientist Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel Prize winner, former Google AI honcho and esteemed “Godfather of AI.” Speaking on the YouTube series Diary of a CEO June 16, Hinton said he expects healthcare to be relatively unscathed by the coming “employment Armageddon.” Many healthcare jobs are “much more elastic” than roles elsewhere, he said. “If you could make doctors five times as efficient, we could all have five times as much healthcare for the same price,” he added. “There’s almost no limit to how much healthcare people can absorb—[patients] always want more healthcare if there’s no cost to it.” That’s a big if. Fortune has coverage of the Hinton segment plus a link to the video. 
   
• From AIinHealthcare’s sibling outlets:
   
  • Radiology Business: Startup seeking to simplify medical imaging referrals raises $101M
     
  • Cardiovascular Business: AI model gets helpful heart assessments out of nongated CT scans
     
  • Radiology Business: Led by notable names in radiology, imaging AI firm HOPPR raises nearly $32M