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AI & HEALTH TECH INNOVATIONS
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Google, CareCloud Aim to Bring Generative AI to Small Practices |
CareCloud has announced that it's working with Google Cloud to help ambulatory practices and other small and medium healthcare providers make use of generative artificial intelligence to inform clinical decision making and boost operational efficiencies. CareCloud already uses Google Cloud to help power its own operational needs and enable generative AI and search functionality in its products. By using Google's offerings such as Vertex AI and Generative AI App Builder, the company is developing tools to bring physicians at smaller practices the same AI-enabled capabilities that are increasingly available at large hospitals and health systems. The first CareCloud solution with generative AI developed for clinics and doctor's offices is expected to be made available in the next few months, the company says. (https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/google-cloud-teams-carecloud-bring-generative-ai-small-practices)
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AWS Offers Generative AI Documentation Through API, Medical Imaging at Scale |
Adding to its suite of cloud-based health services, Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently announced two new services that could improve clinical documentation and image management:
AWS HealthScribe is a HIPAA-eligible generative AI tool that can eliminate the need to integrate and manage underlying machine learning infrastructure or train an organization's own healthcare-specific LLMs. It has text-to-speech capabilities that can create conversation transcripts, then use natural language processing to segment the content into categories - such as key takeaways, the reason for a visit and a history of the present illness - and create summaries. Clinicians can review and finalize transcripts and summaries in their electronic health records.
HealthImaging is a new medical imaging service handling data at a petabyte scale, which the cloud provider said could save organizations money when they transition from self-managed infrastructure for DICOM ingestion. (https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/aws-offers-generative-ai-documentation-through-api-medical-imaging-scale) (https://www.modernhealthcare.com/digital-health/amazon-aws-healthscribe-generative-ai-ehrs)
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Microsoft, Blue Shield of California Partner for Integrated Data Hub |
Blue Shield of California announced a multi-year cloud development plan with tech giant Microsoft to offer its members an integrated data hub, dubbed the Experience Cube, that runs on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform. The Experience Cube will utilize Azure's analytics and storage capabilities to tie together near real-time member, provider and payer data, aiming to create more personalized services for members and drive insights for providers. The platform will first be used as an integrated digital health record that includes a member's lab results, health conditions, emergency room visits, medications, plan coverage and other information related to their healthcare. The companies are also collaborating to move a Blue Shield software solution into Azure to help the health insurer analyze massive amounts of data to better respond to industry needs. The pair is also exploring new apps utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning to meet healthcare stakeholders' needs. (https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/microsoft-blue-shield-california-partner-integrated-data-hub)
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HEALTHCARE & GOVERNMENT
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Senate Sends Organ Transplant Bill to Biden's Desk |
Days after it was passed by the House, the Senate recently cleared legislation that aims to overhaul the organ transplant system in the U.S. The bill apparently is sitting on President Biden's desk for his signature. The bill would give HHS the authority to expand competition for contracts related to the operation of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which matches donor organs with patients waiting for transplants. The legislation comes as the Administration moves to open up the contracting process that has allowed one company [UNOS] to manage the system for nearly 40 years, despite claims of mismanagement that has allowed patients to die on waiting lists. (https://rollcall.com/2023/07/28/senate-sends-organ-transplant-bill-to-bidens-desk/)
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FDA Approves First Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill in U.S. |
The FDA recently approved the oral contraceptive Opill for over-the-counter sales, making it the first hormonal contraceptive pill available in the U.S. without a prescription. Opill, also known as the "mini-pill," contains one hormone, progestin, and is taken daily. It was first approved by the FDA as a prescription in 1973. The FDA said it is approving the over-the-counter version for all users of reproductive age, including teenagers, a move that is expected to remove barriers to access and reduce the risk of unintended pregnancies. (https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/hormonal-birth-control-fda-nonprescription-contraceptive-pill-rcna93958)
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GUIDING the way to Medicare's Dementia Care Model |
HHS, through CMS, announced its Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model, which aims to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia, reduce strain on unpaid caregivers, and help people remain in their homes and communities through a package of care coordination and management, caregiver education and support, and respite services. The GUIDE Model will be tested by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. (https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-announces-medicare-dementia-care-model)
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Hospice Providers & SNFs to Get Billions in Pay Hikes from Medicare Final Rules |
Hospice providers will see an additional $780 million in Medicare payments in fiscal year 2024 under an administration rule recently released. The increase represents a 3.1% boost in the payment rate, according to the final rule from CMS. (https://news.bloomberglaw.com/health-law-and-business/hospice-providers-to-get-780-million-pay-hike-from-medicare)
MEANWHILE, Nursing Homes Will Get a 4% Medicare Pay Bump in 2024 Under CMS Final Rule In what CMS described as a "parity adjustment recalibration," the agency said it will increase payments to skilled nursing facilities by 4%, or $1.4 billion, starting in fiscal year 2024. The payment bump will, in part, make up for a $2.2 billion underpayment to the facilities as a result of the Patient Driven Payment Model for SNFs that replaced the former payment system in 2020, CMS said in a fact sheet. In its final rule, the agency says that it overestimated overpayments to nursing homes, and that resulted in a 2.23% reduction in fiscal year 2023. (https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/nursing-homes-will-receive-more-funding-under-cms-final-rule-fy-2024)
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CMS Releases 2024 Projected Medicare Part D Premium and Bid Information |
CMS recently announced that the average total monthly premium for Medicare Part D coverage is projected to be approximately $55.50 in 2024. This expected amount is a decrease of 1.8% from $56.49 in 2023. The Medicare Part D program helps people with Medicare pay for both brand-name and generic prescription drugs. CMS is also releasing additional information - such as the Part D national average monthly bid amount - to help Part D plan sponsors finalize their premiums and prepare for Medicare Open Enrollment. (https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/news-alert/cms-releases-2024-projected-medicare-part-d-premium-and-bid-information)
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Covered California to See 9.6% Rate Increase for 2024 |
Covered California announced its health plans and rates for the 2024 coverage year with a preliminary weighted average rate increase of 9.6%. The rate change can be attributed to many factors, including a continued rise in health care utilization following the pandemic, increases in pharmacy costs, and inflationary pressures in the healthcare industry, such as the rising cost of care, labor shortages and salary and wage increases. (https://contracosta.news/2023/07/31/covered-california-to-see-9-6-rate-increase-for-2024/)
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Consolidation of Medical Practices "Brings Dishonest Billing" that Costs Patients & Taxpayers Billions |
In a recent opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal - Doctor's Office Care at Hospital Prices - Bobby Jindal and Charlie Katebi report that each year millions of patients visit their doctors' offices for a variety of routine services. But in recent years more Americans are being charged as if they had visited a hospital. This is because the doctor's office billing them is pretending to be a hospital. When a hospital bills a patient's insurer, it must report a federally required National Provider Identifier number on the claim form to identify where the care took place. Many hospitals use the same NPI number for care that happens at a doctor's office as at the main hospital, allowing hospitals to add a facility fee and charge far more than they would for a doctor's visit. More Americans than ever are paying these dishonest fees as large hospitals buy up the practices of local physicians. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/doctors-office-care-at-hospital-prices-dishonest-billing-identifier-number-out-patient-fe670b3e?mod=opinion_lead_pos6)
MEANWHILE, New Federal Antitrust Agencies Have Proposed Merger Guidelines Could Have Significant Chilling Effect on Healthcare Deals, by freeing up regulators to more successfully crack down on consolidation in the healthcare industry, according to antitrust experts. The new FTC and DOJ guidelines include several facets that regulators could use to target vertical and cross-market deals. Although the guidelines are non-binding, they're an authoritative roadmap that regulators use to decide which mergers to challenge. Courts also utilize them to determine the legality of proposed deals. The guidelines haven't been changed in upwards of a decade, sparking criticism that regulators have fallen behind on current market realities - including in the healthcare industry, where consolidation [as illustrated above] has been shown to drive up already sky-high medical prices. (https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/ftc-doj-merger-guidelines-healthcare/688392/)
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HEALTHCARE PROVIDER NEWS & TRENDS
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Amazon Clinic Rolls Out Nationwide |
Amazon's virtual clinic is now available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., the company announced, offering customers 24/7 access to third-party health-care providers directly on Amazon's website and mobile app. The company said that in addition to message-based consultations being available in 34 states, Amazon Clinic now supports video visits nationwide. Amazon Clinic currently does not accept insurance, but medication prescribed by clinicians may be covered by insurance (https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/01/tech/amazon-clinic-expands-nationwide/index.html)
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COVID Cases Trending Up, But Nothing Compared to Last Summer |
According to CDC data, 7,109 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were admitted to a hospital for the week ending July 15, up more than 10 percent from the previous week, when there were 6,444 new admissions. There is unlikely to be a significant spike in severe cases — largely due to existing immunity among the public — though some rise in severe disease is inevitable when the virus is circulating at higher levels, experts told Vox. Overall, hospitalizations are down significantly compared to last summer's omicron surge, when new weekly admissions topped 44,000. (https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/us-sees-largest-covid-19-hospitalization-bump-since-december.html)
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Whose Rankings Do You Trust When CMS & Leapfrog Don't Agree? |
Three of the 20 U.S. hospitals that have earned consecutive "A" safety grades from The Leapfrog Group since 2012 received three-star ratings from CMS, according to the latest CMS 2023 star rankings. CMS gave five-star ratings to 11 of the Leapfrog straight-"A" hospitals and six hospitals received four-star ratings. For example, this is how CMS rated these Leapfrog "Straight A" hospitals in California: French Hospital Medical Center (San Luis Obispo) - Five Stars; and Kaiser Permanente Orange County-Anaheim Medical Center - Four Stars. To view a list of 2023 CMS' five-star hospitals, click here. To view a list of CMS' one-star hospitals, click here. (https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/rankings-and-ratings/which-3-leapfrog-straight-a-hospitals-got-3-stars-from-cms.html)
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The End of COVID-Deferred Care Is Near |
Patients' fears of contracting COVID-19 in healthcare settings have subsided, with older Americans who delayed or avoided healthcare services during the pandemic returning in droves. At least 36% of U.S. adults skipped or delayed necessary medical care in 2020 due to fear of COVID-19 exposure and limited care access during the pandemic, according to research funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. A separate CDC estimate put this figure closer to 41% in 2020. However, three years into the pandemic, data from insurers and healthcare organizations suggest this trend is reversing. (https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/care-coordination/the-end-of-deferred-care.html)
MEANWHILE, Median YTD Operating Hospital Margins Index Improved 1.4% in June, according to Kaufman Hall's latest "National Flash Hospital Report," which is based on data from 1,300+ hospitals. Fiscal year-end accounting adjustments contributed to a slight increase in performance, but most hospitals underperformed in June as high expenses and economic headwinds persist. As margins appear to stabilize on the surface, the gap between high-performing hospitals and those that are financially struggling may be widening. However, financial challenges - such as the rising costs for labor, drugs and supplies - have begun to stabilize. (https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/hospital-margins-improve-to-1-4.html)
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Traditional Weight Loss Docs Wary of "Drive-Through" GLP-1 Providers |
The popularity of GLP-1s, such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic, has led to a growing number of weight loss entrants in the virtual health industry. In the last year, digital health companies such as Teladoc and Noom have launched virtual weight loss businesses with GLP-1 medication prescription offerings. Traditional weight loss company WeightWatchers acquired a telehealth company to begin prescribing the drugs. As the public's knowledge of the drugs increases, more patients are arriving at appointments with preconceived ideas of how their treatment plans should look, said Dr. Caroline Messer, an endocrinologist, clinical assistant professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and assistant professor at Hofstra School of Medicine. "They're often not correct," she said. The increased number of virtual weight loss companies has some traditional clinicians worried about the types of care being offered to patients via these platforms. Amid the hype, Messer is concerned that many clinicians prescribing the drugs are not endocrinologists or trained in weight loss medicine or in how to deal with GLP-1's side effects. (https://www.modernhealthcare.com/digital-health/wegovy-ozempic-weight-loss-glp-1-telehealth)
MEANWHILE, Longevity Clinics Cater to Growing Number of People Obsessed with Fighting Aging as evidenced by medical clinics popping up across the country promising to help clients live longer and better - so long as they can pay. Longevity clinics aim to do everything from preventing chronic disease to healing tennis elbow, all with the goal of optimizing patients' health for more years. Clients pay as much as $100,000 a year for sometimes-unproven treatments, including biological-age testing, early cancer screenings, stem-cell therapies and hair rejuvenation. The centers capitalize on Americans' obsession with living longer and desire for personalized medical care, even if it comes from outside the mainstream, say industry investors and analysts. Many doctors and scientists caution that some clinics' treatments lack robust scientific evidence or introduce health risks. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/longevity-clinics-aging-living-longer-2b98e773?mod=hp_listb_pos1)
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Countries Raid Each Other's Health Systems in Global Battle for Nurses |
A global shortage of healthcare workers is setting off a bruising worldwide battle for talent, as rich countries raid other nations' medical systems for staff to care for their aging populations. The competition has helped countries such as the U.S. and Australia replace some nurses who quit in record numbers during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. But it is also leaving hospitals in developing countries and some wealthier nations such as the U.K. worse off, as they lose staff to countries offering bigger paychecks. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/countries-raid-each-others-health-systems-in-global-battle-for-nurses-b2de0429?mod=hp_lead_pos9)
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Some Hospitals Welcome RV Living for Patients, Families, and Workers |
Oregon Health & Science University, a Level 1 trauma center, is one of several medical centers in the U.S. that maintain parking spaces specifically for RVs, electric hookups included. OHSU has offered the free amenity to patients since 2009. Medical and RV industry professionals say hospitals that offer RV parking are easing access to healthcare for some patients who drive long distances for care, like many rural residents. At OHSU, the average stay for a patient in the RV spaces is about seven days, and the limit is 30 days at a time. If a patient depends on the hospital for a recurring treatment like kidney dialysis, they'll stay every few months. The spots help patients keep close to their medical providers and avoid paying for hotels. Hospital staff also have an interest in on-site RV amenities. (https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/home-sweet-parking-lot-hospitals-rv-spaces/)
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HEALTHCARE BREAKTHROUGHS
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City of Hope Scientists Develop Targeted Chemotherapy Able to Kill All Solid Tumors |
Researchers at City of Hope have published a new study explaining how they took a protein once thought to be too challenging for targeted therapy, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and developed a targeted chemotherapy that appears to annihilate all solid tumors in preclinical research. As the scientists continue to investigate the foundational mechanisms that make this cancer-stopping pill work in animal models, they note that there is an ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial testing the City of Hope-developed therapeutic in humans. (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/city-of-hope-scientists-develop-targeted-chemotherapy-able-to-kill-all-solid-tumors-in-preclinical-research-301888576.html)
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Harvard Scientists ID Drug Combo that May Reverse Aging in Just One Week |
Harvard researchers found a "chemical cocktail" that helped reverse aging in mice within a week by rejuvenating old cells within muscles, tissues, and some organs. The results were published in July in the journal Aging. The cocktail consists of a variety of molecules, including valproic acid, which is an anti-seizure medication used for migraine and mood disorders, and a drug used for cancer with anti-aging properties. (https://fortune.com/well/2023/07/18/harvard-scientists-chemical-cocktail-may-reverse-aging-process-in-one-week/)
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New Ultrasound Therapy Could Help Treat Alzheimer's, Cancer |
Ultrasound could hold a key to a problem that has long challenged drug developers: getting medicines to hard-to-reach places to treat diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer. A cutting-edge approach that combines ultrasound waves with tiny bubbles of inert gas injected into the bloodstream can get more chemotherapy to tumor cells and enable drugs to breach one of the most stubborn frontiers in the human body—the blood-brain barrier. It is also being explored as a new way to deliver gene therapy. The effectiveness of drugs in treating diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's is often limited by poor penetration into tissues, whether in the brain or in tumors in other parts of the body. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/ultrasound-therapy-alzheimers-cancer-treatment-862f1390?mod=hp_lista_pos1)
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AND OTHER HEALTHCARE INNOVATIONS
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Prenuvo Partners with Cenegenics to Bring Comprehensive Whole-Body Scans to Patients |
Prenuvo, the company pioneering proactive whole-body imaging for the early detection of cancer and other diseases, recently announced its partnership with Cenegenics, a leading performance health age management platform dedicated to helping people achieve their peak cognitive, physical and metabolic health. Together, the two will bring Prenuvo's comprehensive, radiation-free scans to thousands of current and future Cenegenics patients, empowering their physicians to make more informed health decisions to help patients achieve longer, better, and healthier lives. Unlike conventional MRIs, which take hours and often involve contrast injections, Prenuvo scans for 500+ conditions, including most solid tumors which can be detected as early as stage 1, aneurysms, cysts, and more - all without radiation, in under an hour. (https://www.prenuvo.com/about-us/newsroom/prenuvo-partners-with-cenegenics)
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How GNC Is Becoming the Newest Healthcare Disruptor |
GNC, the health supplement retailer, is rolling out a yearly healthcare subscription service offering free telehealth appointments and generic medications. GNC Health memberships will be available for $39.99 a year to customers who subscribe to GNC Pro Access (which also costs $39.99 annually). Members get access to free telehealth visits for primary and urgent care and more than 100 generic meds - across specialties such as dermatology, mental health and sexual health - with no copay or additional costs. GNC joins other retailers that have entered the healthcare space in recent years, including Amazon, Dollar General, and Kroger. (https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/disruptors/how-gnc-became-the-newest-healthcare-disruptor.html)
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