health tech
The emerging arms race over insurance denials
Health insurers are already using artificial intelligence to determine coverage. But a new crop of startups is looking to harness the power of AI to combat insurance denials that block access to medical services. These companies promise to help automate appeals for providers and patients, making it much faster and easier to contest denials that often go unchallenged. It's potentially game-changing because when people do appeal, they're often successful.
"Of all the players in the health care space, the patients are the ones who are impacted the most and also have the least amount of resources," said software engineer Holden Karau, whose company is at the forefront of this effort. Read more from STAT's Casey Ross.
first opinion
How Texas could undermine its own medical system
Beginning this fall, there's a new question that hospitals across Texas are required to ask each patient: "Are you a U.S. citizen?" Patients aren't technically obligated to respond, but there's no questioning the mood that such an inquiry creates. "It turns a place of refuge into a checkpoint," writes pre-med student Akshara Ramasamy in a new First Opinion essay.
Ramasamy spent much of her childhood in Texas worrying about her family's legal status as visa-holders. But she also spent a lot of time as a young patient in hospitals, where she felt safe from those worries. As she looks to continue her medical education in her home state, Ramasamy's dual perspective puts her in a complicated position. "In a world where hospitals are forced to inquire about citizenship, what am I actually promising?" she writes. "It feels as though I am vowing to do no harm only if the patient can prove their lawful place in this country. The trust at the core of the patient-provider relationship fractures under the weight of that stipulation." Read more.
shots
Childhood vaccinations are decreasing across the pond, too
Uptake of five key childhood vaccines decreased in the U.K. between 2019 and 2023, according to a study published yesterday in The BMJ. Researchers analyzed vaccination rates at general practices across the country for the first and second dose of the MMR vaccine, as well as rotavirus vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate booster, and a six-in-one shot that covers diphtheria, tetanus, polio, and more.
But the rate of uptake isn't declining equally across the board. At clinics in more socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, fewer children received vaccines than in better-resourced areas, and that absolute difference only increased over the study period. The authors point to reduced access and acceptability as potential factors at play in the disparities.
The study was published just days after, here in the U.S., President-elect Donald Trump suggested that he shares some of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s concerns about common childhood vaccines (which, to be clear, are scientifically unsubstantiated).
No comments