Tag: doctors

“AI may be on its way to your doctor’s office, but it’s not ready to see patients,” a Los Angeles Times article proclaimed this spring. It’s not the first to remind us: For all the hype around ChatGPT and other new AI tools, we’re still a long way from widespread adoption. But there are AI tools available for healthcare now that can demonstrate return on investment (ROI) in months, not years. These solutions strengthen referral processes and relieve pressure on overstretched healthcare teams while increasing capacity where it matters most. They also help eliminate the administrative demands of care that fuel burnout, speed information transfer, and ease transitions in care. Here are five critical AI investments that provide “right now” value for health systems, clinicians and patients. ...

While the quality of U.S. healthcare and patient outcomes has generally increased over time, access to care — and thus to positive patient outcomes — is not equitable to all people. Overall, one in 10 Americans don’t have health insurance, which is fallout of a system breaking under the weight of high costs and deepening complexity. Diabetes rates are more than 30% higher among Native Americans and Latinos than among Whites. Rates of death attributable to heart disease, stroke, and prostate and breast cancers remain much higher in black populations. If you live in a rural area and have a chronic disease (or multiple diseases) provider options are more limited than in densely populated areas. That means availability of a specialist or even the ability to get an appointment can be a chall...

Retail and pharmacy – two very different industries that, on the surface, might not appear to have much in common. However, the two fields have found a use for an emerging technology to solve very similar problems. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is an incredibly valuable resource that has been introduced in the retail space to track inventory and detect and deter theft. Now, RFID is bringing immense value to the healthcare space,continuing to show promise and results, especially when incorporated into a comprehensive drug diversion prevention program. RFID technology uses wireless communication and radio waves to identify and track items and equipment. RFID tags can store a significant amount of data, whether it be a single serial number or several pages of material. Wi...

We are living in a dynamic time of drug development and innovation with many beneficiaries—the most important being the patient. These developments include everything from exciting gene therapies for rare diseases to mRNA technology that allowed the development of the COVID vaccine in record time. Yet we are facing significant challenges as well. There is a global call for more equitable pricing and broader access—especially for the newer innovative treatments. How can we as healthcare leaders answer that call? How can we work with our stakeholders to ensure that the system can effectively support new innovations so that the most important stakeholder—the patient—will benefit? Collaboration and partnerships In answering the call, we must focus our attention on where it has the most impa...