⚕️Bioacoustics: The New Frontier in Medicine

Good Morning! Burnout remains a major obstacle in the healthcare fraternity. Women in healthcare report higher rates of burnout than their male counterparts.

Nearly 75% of health workers say documentation impedes patient care. Can advances in HealthTech help alleviate this?

DEEP DIVE
6 Things To Look For When Hiring A Healthcare AI Consulting Company

• 58 percent of the medical group leaders pointed out positive outcomes for healthcare AI – around 30 percent said that innovation would be the most defining trait for healthcare AI.

Here are six key points to consider when hiring a healthcare AI consulting company:

1. AI Technology Expertise
   Ensure the consultant specializes in relevant AI technologies like NLP, Machine Learning, Predictive Analytics, and chatbots that fit your organization's needs.

2. Access to Training Data
   Verify that they have sufficient high-quality training data and the necessary consent to use healthcare data, which is crucial for AI development efficiency.

3. Neural Network Knowledge
   The consultant must have expertise in neural network architecture, as it's essential for AI learning and data processing.

4. AI Training Platforms
   Check their experience with platforms like CloudAutoML and IBM Watson to ensure smooth integration with your infrastructure.

5. Cloud and IoT Integration
   Make sure they can integrate AI solutions with your existing cloud, IoT, and network systems without conflicts.

6. Healthcare Industry Expertise
   Choose a consultant with deep healthcare knowledge to ensure they can create practical AI solutions aligned with industry needs and business goals.

Read the complete guide to selecting a healthcare AI consulting company here.

DEEP DIVE
The Era of AI that Listens: Bioacoustics

What’s happening: Researchers are increasingly using sound-related data from biological systems for discoveries. Bioacoustics, when combined with artificial intelligence (AI), has become particularly important in healthcare, where sound analysis is being applied for early disease detection.

Real world applications of Bioacoustics:

• Google has developed the HeAR model, which analyzes cough sounds to detect tuberculosis (TB) with a high degree of accuracy. Similar models are being developed to analyze other sounds, such as those from the respiratory system, to detect conditions like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The Salcit Technologies Swaasa app, for instance, allows users to record a simple 10-second cough to test for respiratory diseases.

• Google is also researching a model based on ultrasound for early breast cancer detection at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan. The AI assists in lesion detection and Google aims to roll out it out globally, offering free breast cancer screening for populations that can’t afford costly mammograms.

• Montreal-based Ubenwa has built a foundation model for infant cries, and interprets infant’s needs and health by analyzing the biomarkers in their cry sounds. Companies are also working on AI tools that can detect autism based on oohs, aahs and gurgling sounds.

PULSE POINTS
Latest Breakthroughs This Week

Here’s the most important breakthroughs and advancements we spotted in the healthcare technology space this week.

• Reducing ED Note Bloat: Geisinger cut emergency department note lengths by 40% using Epic EHR tools to adapt to new CMS billing guidelines. They updated note templates with hyperlinks for relevant histories, replaced smart links with quick-access links for lab and radiology results, and provided provider education. This streamlined documentation, improved efficiency, and received positive feedback from staff while maintaining billing compliance.

• AI for Sepsis Management: Emory Healthcare developed an AI algorithm in its Epic system to alert clinicians when patients with sepsis might benefit from switching IV fluids from saline to balanced crystalloids. Over 70% of providers have accepted the AI's recommendation but physicians make the final treatment decisions. The tool is part of Emory's PRECISE AI trial, funded by Kaiser Permanente with a $750,000 grant.

• Cybersecurity: Cybersecurity spending is projected to rise as cyberattacks increase and organizations protect their generative AI platforms. Global information security spending is expected to reach $212 billion by 2025, a 15.1% increase from 2024. GAs generative AI is adopted, cybersecurity needs will grow, with 17% of hacks involving generative AI by 2027.

• Stats: 96% of healthcare technology leaders see AI as crucial for maintaining a competitive edge. While 33% currently consider AI essential, 73% believe it will be indispensable within the next five years. Despite confidence in AI adoption, 96% feel an increasing urgency to act, driven by pressure from data and analytics teams (82%), IT departments (78%), and executive leadership (73%)

EXPERT SPOTLIGHT
Marc Brown: Navigating Ambiguity In Healthcare

This week, HealthTech Zen got in touch with Marc Brown, a HealthTech Founder and CTO with 20 years of experience building products and leading engineering teams

Which emerging technologies do you believe will have the greatest impact on healthcare in the near future?

AI agents, via agentic workflows, will have a transformative impact on healthcare. An agentic workflow can be defined as the decomposition of a complex task into an iterative, multi-step process, backed by LLMs. This decomposition allows for the use of smaller models, each fine-tuned to solve a highly specific problem, which generates more accurate responses with lower inference costs.

Going beyond a single prompt/response, AI agents have the ability to reflect on their output, identify potential issues, and improve before returning a final response. And multi-agent collaboration allows for different agents to “work together” to solve a particular problem.

What are the key skills and qualities you believe are essential for a successful CTO in the healthcare tech sector?

While there are several qualities required to be a successful CTO, a few stand out based on my experience.

• Navigating ambiguity: During the earliest stage, whether launching a company or building a new feature, you will be surrounded by ambiguity. The best leaders can synthesize big questions into a focused set of problems to solve.

• Building conviction: Great leaders can clearly communicate the “why” behind strategic decisions, ensuring your team is bought in on the direction of the business.

• Maintaining malleability: While conviction is critical, it’s just as important to embrace feedback along the way and be willing to update your point of view or change direction when necessary.

Continue reading here

DECODER
What is Clinical Trial Analytics?

Clinical trial analytics involves analyzing data to enhance the design, execution, and outcomes of clinical trials.

It includes managing and analyzing trial data, applying statistical methods, and using predictive models to optimize trial design and patient recruitment. This approach improves decision-making, efficiency, and the likelihood of successful outcomes.

Read more about clinical trial analytics and leveraging real world evidence and big data in clinical trials here.