Gatherings
At ViVE 2024, AI regulations are top of mind
I checked out ViVE in Los Angeles this week: At first blush, it's a toned-down version of the opulence and glamor of Las Vegas industry staple HLTH, with fewer flashy exhibits and, seemingly, less sponsored swag — though there was still a formidable line for the free headshots, as well as a therapeutic Puppy Park, I didn't immediately see any Zen Domes or circus dancers. (There's still time, I guess.)
Though we're far from Washington, there's much handwringing about current and anticipated rules from several federal agencies guiding AI development for health care, including the Food and Drug Administration and the Office for the National Coordinator for Health IT. I've already been tracking startups' response to proposed regulations and uncertainty about exactly how they'll be implemented, but the concern spans far beyond small companies.
In one policy-focused panel, Aneesh Chopra, the White House's first chief technology officer under Obama, called for "outcomes focused discussions around accountability more so than [on] the model at the center," he said, referencing federal proposals to regulate models if they meet certain benchmarks, for instance. Later, Oracle Health chair David Feinberg told me he loved compliance and regulatory experts because they "keep you out of trouble," but acknowledged that massive tech companies like Oracle likely have more resources to meet complicated regulations compared to startups. Still, Feinberg, who joined Aegis Ventures as an advisor in January, said he was confident that AI companies working toward certain core principles, like transparency with patients, won't be left in the dust.
Compared to HLTH in October, I've noticed the conversation surrounding AI is much more substantive — health systems have a had a few months to trot out generative AI tools, regulations are gradually taking shape, and the industry's at least beginning to coalesce around its own governance process.
Clinical conversation darling Abridge raises $150 million
Among recent newsmakers attending ViVE is ambient documentation startup and Microsoft Nuance challenger Abridge: Both chief clinical officer Tina Shah and chief executive Shiv Rao are taking the stage to talk topics like burnout, DEI, and generative AI. Late last week the company announced it had raised a $150 million Series C round — a rare feat in a difficult funding environment — and had inked deals with health system customers including Yale New Haven Health. A fascinating tidbit there: Paul Ricci, the former head of Nuance and now a current advisor at Abridge-backer Lightspeed Venture Partners, has also lent the company his support. Read more.
Other ViVE chatter: Tackling burnout & startup partnerships
- Health systems trying out new automated tools are just beginning to generate more robust data on what works and doesn't. Nebraska Medicine, for instance, said today that automation tool Laudio has slashed first-year nurse turnover by about 47 percent after about 5,000 front-line workers used it. As health systems face serious burnout rates among clinicians and nurses, tools that could ease medical documentation or automate certain tasks like scheduling are getting lots of attention.
- Elsewhere, data transparency initiative OpenNotes unveiled OpenNotes Lab today: the group's first effort to work with health tech developers and startups on patient-clinician relationships. The goal, organizers said, is to set up a testing environment for new tech and also advocate for more patient-centered AI tools. OpenNotes has spearheaded research on patients' need to access their own medical data.
- On AI, a new survey published today from Berkeley Research Group tapping 150 health leaders finds that three-quarters expect widespread AI adoption in their organizations over the next three years, but less than half are up-to-date on the regulations, researchers found.
- Finally, direct-to-consumer telehealth company Hims & Hers — which has come a long way since its founding six years ago as a purveyor of erectile dysfunction and hair loss pills — achieved its first quarter of profitability, CEO Andrew Dudum wrote in a blog post Monday.
Cybersecurity
The latest on Change Health's cyber catastrophe
In case you missed it late last week, a major cyber attack on UnitedHealth Group has brought insurance payment processing to a screeching halt as hospitals, pharmacies and other providers face technical issues, my colleagues on STAT's business desk report. The attack targeted United's recently acquired payment subsidiary Change Healthcare, and the feds are already involved: The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the American Hospital Association are monitoring the threat they say was orchestrated by a "suspected nation-state" and that began mid-week last week. It's yet another instance of mounting attacks on health organizations struggling to find enough cybersecurity talent to protect their sprawling, and often porous, networks, experts told me earlier this month.
This week, experts told my colleagues that the Change attack highlights the dangers of rampant consolidation in health care, and centralizing claims processing: "Where you have this concentration of mission-critical services, that also results in the concentration of risk if those services become unavailable for any reason," said John Riggi, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation Cyber Division worker who now advises AHA on cybersecurity.
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