Literature Review

How AI-enabled speech analysis could diagnose, treat diseasesModern Healthcare, by Gabriel Perna; 2/2/24Healthcare providers and digital health companies are using speech analysis AI to anticipate heart attack and better understand a patient's social needs.

Northern Light Health works to get back online after computer server breachMainebiz, by William Hall; 2/5/24Maine's second-largest health care system, Northern Light Health, said on Monday part of its computer network remained down after servers were discovered Saturday to have been breached. Nothern Light Health comprises 10 hospitals including 411-bed Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor; over 1,000 physicians; six home care and hospice centers; and a total of more than 120 care locations.

Electronic visit verification will become industry standard in the near future, expert predictsMcKnights Home Care, by Adam Healy; 2/2/24As state Medicaid programs’ adoption of electronic visit verification (EVV) continues to grow, the technology is poised to become the norm for all of home-based care, a marketplace executive says. “For the first time in the history of this industry, you have real-time access to the caregiver in the home,” noted Stephen Vaccaro, president of home care software firm HHAeXchange, in an interview with McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse. “States are now starting to look at this and say, ‘What’s next?’”

Home health industry’s technology partners continue racing toward AIHome Health Care News, by Joyce Famakinwa; 2/1/24Artificial intelligence is likely to be a hot topic in home-based care over the next few years. With that in mind, most companies in the space are already adjusting. Post-acute technology company WellSky, for instance, has partnered with Google Cloud to leverage its artificial intelligence (AI) platform, Vertex AI. The partnership also includes Google Cloud’s secure cloud technologies, advanced data analytics tools and machine learning capabilities.

Regulate Artificial Intelligence in health care by prioritizing patient outcomes JAMA, by John W. Ayers, PhD, MA; Nimit Desai, BS; Davey M. Smith, MD, MAS; 1/29/24Artificial intelligence (AI) holds great promise to enhance the quality of health care. Despite the aim of health care regulations to ensure high-quality care, there are few regulations governing the use of AI in health care. This dearth will soon change because a White House executive order instructed the Department of Health and Human Services to develop new AI-specific regulatory strategies addressing equity, safety, privacy, and quality for AI in health care before April 27, 2024.

Healthcare data breaches hit new highs in 2023Modern Healthcare, by Tim Broderick; 1/25/24A record 133 million individuals were impacted by healthcare data breaches. Imagine after purchasing a car the salesperson slaps the hood and says there's a 40% chance in the coming year that an unauthorized person will gain access to it or just outright steal the car.Full access to article requires a subscription  

Health systems want tech to make work 'more human'Becker's Health IT, by Laura Dyrda; 1/23/24Healthcare delivery needs more humanity. Over the last 15 years, clinicians have been forced behind the computer entering data into the EHR during patient visits. Increasing patient volume and workforce shortages make it a challenge to deliver high-touch patient care without burning out clinical staff.

Healthcare orgs taking steps to remove racial bias from algorithm and AI tools, new report showsMcKnight's Senior Living, by Aaron Dorman; 1/22/24... A team of doctors at the American Academy of Pediatrics is going through hundreds of algorithms and other materials to find, and remove, anything that could exacerbate racial disparities, a “herculean task,” as the JAMA report describes it. The potential for AI-enabled bias could be a major problem for diagnosing life-threatening conditions in seniors. 

Predictive analytics in action: How machine learning is driving successful outcomes for value-based end of life programsSenior Housing News, by Sophie Knoelke; 1/17/24Based on a discussion with Jordan Holland and Mark Bailes of VNS HealthHolland: "We are using predictive analytics to identify patients that are in that end-of-life stage, and then intervening on those patients earlier through a palliative-centric model. We take a full view of an individual’s health across the continuum. Then, we identify what the right clinical model is for their individual situation -the technologies, the analytics to help successfully deploy that model."

What Amazon's latest healthcare play could mean for ASCsBecker's ASC Review, by Paige Haeffele; 1/8/23Amazon launched digital health monitoring services through a partnership with Omada Health. Omada's more than 20 million members are eligible to enroll in the service through Amazon, according to a Jan. 8 post on Amazon's website. ... Sri Sundaram, MD, an electrophysiologist at South Denver Cardiology Associates, told Becker's: "From a patient's perspective, it's only positive. From a physician's perspective, it can be overwhelming. I get daily reports from patients about abnormal recordings from their wearables. How do I respond when only the wearable is abnormal? Keeping up with this data and questions from patients has already become demanding."Editor's Note: What implications might such wearables have for palliative and hospice care?

How health systems are using AI to augment patient safetyModern Healthcare, by Mari Devereaux; 1/5/24Clinicians at some health systems are turning to artificial intelligence-driven tools to predict and avert negative patient outcomes, though stakeholders say caution remains warranted.

8 healthcare tech trends in 2024, per DataLinkBecker's Health IT, by Noah Schwartz; 12/28/23Health IT company DataLink projected eight trends in healthcare technology for 2024. Artificial technology dominated the trends list. Here are the eight healthcare technology predictions for 2024, according to a Dec. 28 DataLink news release: