Industry Watcher’s Digest

Buzzworthy developments of the past few days.

• Sharper teeth to bite health insurers using AI to decide whether or not to pay claims. That’s what legislators at both the state and federal levels—and in both parties—seem to want. This week several dozen members of U.S. Congress wrote to CMS on the concern. Among other things, they ask the agency to spell out how it distinguishes between uses of AI that account for individual circumstances and those that do not. “Such information is needed not only for AI tool oversight purposes,” they point out, “but also to allow Medicare beneficiaries to make better informed decisions when comparing plan options.” Meanwhile some state legislatures are making parallel moves to cuff insurers’ ability to tap AI for coldly denying care, as Bloomberg Law details. And all of this comes as class-action suits await hearings against Humana, Cigna and UnitedHealth. Something’s got to give here.
   
• 3 MDs are proposing a 5-level path to AI automation in healthcare. The doctors base their levels on the degree of risk associated with AI products of increasing involvement. At the least risky end are algorithms used for administrative tasks (minimal risk) and clinical process automation (low risk). At the high end are clinical decision support via software as a medical device (high risk) and “digital doctor” software as a medical device (highest risk). Fleshing out their idea in Health Affairs, the trio state their scale can help “foster a culture of responsible AI adoption in healthcare” and can be adopted across stakeholder groups, from providers to payers to life-science firms and other healthcare orgs. “By using this five-level framework as a scaffold upon which to build more detailed and specific criteria for healthcare AI at each level,” they write, “we can realize the benefits of AI while minimizing its risks.” They might do well to read today’s lead story and then do a mind meld with the likeminded people at CHAI.
   
• Rural healthcare providers are coming around to AI. They’re motivated by the realization that what they do won’t change—but how they do it must. The president and CEO of one of the biggest rural health systems in the U.S. thinks through the paradigm shift in a piece he wrote for STAT. “It makes sense to be cautious about AI in healthcare, no matter where one lives or practices medicine,” writes the health exec, Bill Gassen of Sioux Falls-based Sanford Health. “But some healthcare providers, including those in the most remote and rural locations in our nation, have already crept over the mountain and have seen a new world of promise.” Read the rest.
   
• A millennial with a lot of experience in therapy has put an AI mental health counselor through its paces. After spending a week under the care of Therapist GPT and journaling her impressions day by day, freelance writer Ayana Herndon makes a judicious call. “I would recommend the chatbot for a quick pick-me-up between sessions,” she shares in PopSugar. AI therapy, she concludes, “serves as a great barometer for what concerns to bring up to my real therapist when our next meeting comes along.”
   
• Another Big Tech player enters the healthcare AI fray in a pretty big way. Oracle says its newly available clinical digital assistant combines clinical automation, note generation, integrated dictation and proposed actions “in a single unified experience.” The company adds that the offering is aimed at ambulatory clinics, based on its existing digital assistant platform and designed to integrate with Oracle Health EHR as well as Oracle Health Care Management. Announcement.
   
• Consumer trust is the skeleton key that will open many a healthcare door to generative AI. The observation isn’t new, but it gets a fresh airing out by a contributing writer at Forbes. “By addressing privacy concerns, engaging clinicians, being transparent and collaborating with community partners, healthcare organizations can foster trust and increase the adoption of gen AI,” writes Rajeev Ronanki, CEO of the healthcare AI company Lyric. “This trust will be instrumental in transforming gen AI from a promising tool into a trusted ally in achieving better health outcomes and more affordable healthcare.”
   
• Did you know that almost half the counties in the U.S. have no cardiology practice? Or that 60% of cardiologists are at or near retirement age? I didn’t. And I appreciate these factoids enough to not mind their having reached me through a bit of a promotional spot. Especially since the spot is about how AI can help solve those problems. “[A]s one of the few doctors who have made house calls in recent years,” writes Ben Green, MD, “I know from experience that having portable, easy-to-use tools would have dramatically improved the kinds of care I could offer patients in their homes.” Green is senior VP of services for AliveCor, marketer of AI-enabled ECG devices. Newsweek published the piece June 26.
   
• Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface has made Neuralink’s first patient really, really good at gaming. How good? So good that he almost feels guilty about the edge he now has over the competition. Spilling the beans on the Joe Rogan podcast, quadriplegic Noland Arbaugh said some games may be “too far out of reach” for his newfound expertise—but others have become a snap. “I basically have an aimbot in my head,” he explained. “They’ll probably have different leagues for people like me because it’s just not fair.” Futurism’s Neoscope site has the story.
   
• Recent research roundup:
   
  • NIH: AI tool predicts response to cancer therapy
     
  • Johns Hopkins/Sarah Cannon: An AI tool’s potential impact on predictive medicine
     
  • Boston University: New AI program from BU researchers could predict likelihood of Alzheimer’s disease
     
  • Walter and Eliza Hall Institute: Robots help put brakes on inflammatory diseases
     
• Funding news of note:
   
  • EvolutionaryScale, backed by Amazon and Nvidia, raises $142M for protein-generating AI
     
  • Sensi.AI raises $31M in Series B funding to advance senior care intelligence for home care agencies
     
  • Adonis raises $31M to improve healthcare financial outcomes and patient experiences through AI
     
  • Cloudphysician raises $10.5M in funding round
     
  • AI can improve children’s healthcare. AWS is providing $10M to accelerate research
     
• From AIin.Healthcare’s news partners:
   
  • Health Imaging: Deep learning application spots acute ischemic stroke in less than 30 seconds on MRI