Healthcare AI Guy Weekly Newsletter | 10/24

Our Picks ✨

Highlights if you’ve only got 2 minutes…

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Guardrails, benchmarks for AI in healthcare

Regulation can actually serve as an accelerant, similar to what happened with EHR/EMR adoption in the aftermath of the Meaningful Use law. On that note, there have been several committees and programs to come out in the last weeks around trust and safety of AI in healthcare. See below:

• FDA: The FDA established a new Digital Health Advisory Committee to help guide the agency’s policies on technologies like AI and machine learning

• WHO: The World Health Organization released a publication outlining key regulatory considerations for the use of AI in healthcare

• HITRUST: HITRUST launched an AI Assurance Program, designed to help healthcare organizations develop strategies for secure and sustainable use of AI models

• Peterson Health Technology Institute: PHTI sets out to build clinical evidence for emerging digital health tools

• VALID AI: UC Health Systems and more than 30 founding partners launched ‘VALID AI’, which stands for Vision, Alignment, Learning, Implementation, and Dissemination of Validated generative AI in healthcare

We hope these and other similar measures help bridge the gap by exploring uses, pitfalls and best practices for generative AI in healthcare, while also bringing forward new research and real-world evidence.

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Majority of patients don’t trust AI

A Carta Healthcare survey revealed 75% of Americans don’t trust AI in a healthcare setting, and most have no idea whether their provider is already using the technology. Some key stats:

• ~4/5 patients reported not knowing whether their provider is using AI

• 2/3 reported if they were to have an explanation of their providers’ AI use, it would make them more comfortable

• Most (80%) said knowing about their practice’s AI use is important to improving their comfort level

Clearly, education is critical to reversing some of the public’s negative perceptions of AI in healthcare. All providers use AI already like MRI machines and CT scanners and have been for a long time so making sure patients are in the loop and aware of the tech being used will help ease concerns. (link)

Tool Box 🧰

Latest on business, consumer, and clinical healthcare AI tools and partnerships…

🔧 GE Healthcare: GE HealthCare signed a $44M contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop and obtain clearance for new AI-powered ultrasound technology designed to allow clinicians to diagnose traumatic injuries quickly. (link)

🔧 Vanderbilt Univ. Medical Center: VUMC developed an AI model to identify pediatric patients who are at high risk of developing blood clots. (link)

🔧 Sharp Healthcare: Sharp Healthcare, based in San Diego, created its own AI assistant, dubbed SharpAI, to support operational staff. (link)

🔧 Expresso: Revolutionizing mental health in the workplace. (link)

🤝 care.ai + Google Cloud: care.ai is joining forces with Google Cloud to integrate generative AI functionality and business analytics into its Smart Care Facility Platform. The care.ai platform uses ambient sensors spread throughout care facilities to monitor patients and their caregivers, informing clinical and operational insights around areas such as fall prevention, protocol monitoring, and workforce optimization. (link)

🤝 Centerstone + Lyssn: Centerstone, a large nonprofit mental health system, is working with health tech company Lyssn to use its AI-powered platform for clinician training and quality assurance programs across its wide operations. (link)

🤝 Highmark Health + Google: Highmark Health, based in Pittsburgh, is employing generative AI from Google to create marketing materials and document encounters on both its provider and payer sides. (link)

Deal Desk 💸 

Spotlight on latest capital raises, M&A and investments…

📈 Xpanceo: a deep tech startup based in Dubai, UAE raised $40M in Seed funding. The round was led by Opportunity Ventures. Xpanceo will use the funding to launch smart contract lenses with AR vision. (link)

📈 Evident Vascular: a medical technology startup developing an intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) platform leveraging AI to enable superior imaging and streamlined workflows, raised $35M Series A funding from Vensana Capital. (link)

📈 Deciphex: a developer of software to accelerate the delivery of digital pathology services based in Dublin raised $10.5M in venture debt. The debt financing was provided by Claret Capital Partners. (link)

📈 Gero: a biotechnology company focused on aging and chronic diseases based in Palo Alto, CA raised $6M in Series A funding. The round was led by Melnichek Investments with others participating. (link)

Other Relevant News 🔍

News, podcasts, blogs, tweets, resources, etc…

• Home health providers turning to AI tools to close care gaps (link)

• Microsoft: hospitals use only 3% of data collected (link)

• Study: over 85% accuracy using AI vocal recordings to diagnose type 2 diabetes (link)

• Towards a real-time decoding of images from brain activity (link)

• How AI can help people with motor disabilities (link)

• Rock Health: benchmarks for early-stage digital health startups (link)

• Radiology’s AI adoption dilemma (link)

• Conversational AI for healthcare is a significant step beyond the chatbot (link)

• AI outpaces every industry with $17.9B raised in Q3 (link)

• The techno-optimist manifesto from Marc Andreessen (link)

AI Images of the Week 📸

Funny memes and pics from around the web…