Industry Watcher’s Digest
Buzzworthy developments of the past few days.
- A recent survey showed strong levels of hope and optimism among doctors that AI will relieve them of administrative burdens. However, there’s also “significant skepticism—and significant fear—that AI will be yet just another thing that physicians have to deal with that’s super-imposed upon them without any input and without the appropriate implementation.” The quote is from Nele Jessel, chief medical officer of Athenahealth, who spoke about physician burnout with ChiefHealthcareExecutive.com. More here.
- It was largely end-users who drove the successes of desktop computers and Internet connections into businesses, organizations and enterprises of every kind. Given those experiences, an AI plan is “just exactly what we shouldn’t waste our time on” now. The thinking is from IT consultant Bob Lewis, who makes his case in a tongue-in-cheek “dialogue” published at CIO.com. The fictional interlocutors are a bunch of supposed experts and one wise if prickly “Dr. Yeahbut.” (Expert No. 12: “Ensure there’s value in each anticipated use case.” Dr. Yeahbut: “No. Don’t do this. … It’s a cure that would be far worse than the disease.” Read the rest.
- AHIMA has built what it calls a ‘pioneering centralized knowledge space’ for health IT professionals interested in AI. The group, whose acronym stands for the American Health Information Management Association, has released a white paper to complement the resource hub. Check out both here.
- ‘As AI’s tentacles reach deeper into medical practices every day, the fast-evolving technology faces almost no regulation. … Hospitals aren’t even required to tell patients when they’re using AI.” That’s from a feature article in the Kansas City Beacon. Health reporter Suzanne King looks at the promise and risk of healthcare AI in her neck of the nation and beyond. The piece is posted here.
- Alert fatigue is the phenomenon in which nurses get so desensitized to sounds constantly coming from patient monitors that they just tune it all out. Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are using AI to “transform alert improvement into a continuous learning process”—for machines and clinicians alike. Details here.
- At Penn State, they’re streamlining the way AI summarizes patient info. The aim is to make the outputs faster to arrive yet easier to trust. In testing, the technique yielded a “consistent improvement in faithfulness,” which was confirmed by physicians who checked the work. University coverage here.
- Also of note from the AI research beat:
- Mass General Brigham: Generative AI used to create translatable pediatric care educational videos for hospitals in resource-poor countries
- UC-San Francisco Health: How AI Can Help Spot Early Risk Factors for Alzheimer’s Disease
- Tufts Medicine: Tufts Medicine Announces Virtual-First Approach to Improve Access to Care
- Raboud University Medical Center: Help from AI significantly improves colonoscopy—40% more polyps detected when the computer assists
- University Hospital Bonn: Artificial intelligence recognizes patterns in behavior
- Mass General Brigham: Generative AI used to create translatable pediatric care educational videos for hospitals in resource-poor countries
- From AIin.Healthcare’s news partners:
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.