How Microsoft is shaping the rules for health AI

MIKE REDDY FOR STAT

Microsoft has spent billions of dollars to make itself a leader in artificial intelligence, including through its investments in OpenAI and its acquisition of clinical documentation company Nuance.

But an under-appreciated prong of Microsoft's AI strategy is its effort to help shape regulatory and other frameworks that govern the technology's use. STAT's Casey Ross and Brittany Trang report that the company has helped organize four separate coalitions to come up with technical standards and guidelines for AI. These groups grant Microsoft extensive access to government leaders, hospital executives, and other stakeholders that wield tremendous power over how health care is delivered.

To be clear, there is nothing overtly nefarious or even secret about this work. In the world of health care, it's not unusual for companies to participate in the lengthy process of crafting complex and sensitive standards they must later live by. Nevertheless, experts expressed misgivings about the scale of Microsoft's involvement. There's a fear that rules may ultimately be shaped in a way that preferences Microsoft's products to the detriment of smaller competitors.

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Telehealth

The legacy of Teladoc's Jason Gorevic

The sudden departure of Teladoc CEO Jason Gorevic earlier this month — after 15 years at the helm of the pioneering virtual care company — surprised many Wall Street analysts because it seemed somewhat unplanned. But on reflection, more than one analyst repeated a similar version of the same question: Why hadn't it happened sooner?

Gorevic built Teladoc into a virtual care giant and led the company through a period of tremendous growth during the pandemic. But in recent years, Teladoc's stock price has bottomed out as the company has had to pare back its growth projections. The company's growth has now slowed to a trickle behind Gorevic's increasingly measured approach to expansion. In a new story, STAT's Mohana Ravindranath and I chart the epic rise of Teladoc and the somewhat puzzling end of Jason Gorevic's tenure.

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Cybersecurity

Change Healthcare dodges lawmaker questions

UnitedHealth Group this week faced some of the burdens of obligation stemming from the gigantic data breach at the company's claims processing subsidiary Change Healthcare.

First, the obligation to shareholders: UnitedHealth earlier this week disclosed that it expects the hack to cost the company $1.6 billion from expenses and lost revenues. But the company still reaffirmed its adjusted earnings outlook for the year, STAT's Tara Bannow reported.

Then, there was the obligation dodged — for now. UnitedHealth failed to send a representative to House subcommittee hearing on cybersecurity prompted by the Change debacle. UnitedHealth reportedly committed to testifying at a future hearing. Read more here from STAT's Brittany Trang.

business

Price transparency spawns wave of startups

Federal rules forcing hospitals and insurers to post rates for medical procedures have taken effect, but the data's so messy that a crop of new startups is rushing in to make a business out of parsing it for whoever is willing to pay. Mohana reports on companies like Turquoise Health (backed by Andreessen Horowitz and Yosemite) and Cascade (backed by AlleyCorp).

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Data PRivacy

Think twice before handing over your brain data to gadgets

Devices that can track consumers' brain waves are unlikely to include any protections or restrictions around how companies can use or sell user neural data, according to a new report from the Neurorights Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for the ethical development of neurotechnology. STAT's Timmy Broderick reports that the group analyzed the user agreements and privacy policies for 30 companies that sell commercially available products, which include a sensor-laden headband and a mask. Only one company provided any meaningful restrictions on how users' data could be employed or whether the company could sell user data to third parties.

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