⚕️Leveraging AI to Tackle Polypharmacy in the Elderly

Good Morning! AI is a powerful tool for healthcare leaders. But, let’s not forget the gentle human touch and care that fosters care toward patients.

AI can act as a catalyst for understanding patients and elevate their experiences.

DEEP DIVE
5 Prominent Use Cases of Blockchain in Healthcare

• According to a survey conducted by the PwC, 49 percent of the companies are piloting, developing, and implementing blockchain projects in medical supply chain management.

5 Use Cases of Blockchain in Healthcare

• Healthcare Data Security: Blockchain's data structures are highly secure as they are based on cryptography, consensus, and decentralized principles. Every block is linked to the previous one in such a way that it's impossible to tamper with.

• EMR: Blockchain can be used in electronic medical records (EMR) software to protect data privacy and manage interoperability. MedRec, a blockchain-based system allows patients to authorize providers to view their records and approve changes to their EMR. It can even manage data sharing between providers.

• Medical Supply Chain Management: Blockchain technology can maintain a fixed record of available medical devices and drugs. This prevents the purchase of counterfeit and expired products.

To read the full use cases click here.

DEEP DIVE
AI to Tackle Polypharmacy in the Elderly

What’s Happening: A new study published in The American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC) highlights the potential of AI-powered technology to address the complex issue of polypharmacy in senior patients. 

What Exactly is Polypharmacy: Polypharmacy, the use of multiple medications, is a common problem among older adults and can lead to serious adverse events. In the United States alone, suboptimal medication management is estimated to result in 275,000 deaths and over $500 billion in avoidable costs annually.

Tackling Polypharmacy with AI-Based Platform:

FeelBetter’s platform accurately identified patients at high risk for hospitalization and emergency department visits. The platform correctly predicted medication risks in 89.2% of cases and provided clinically relevant warnings in 97.3% of instances.

FeelBetter’s platform offers a promising solution to the challenges posed by polypharmacy. By accurately stratifying patients based on their risk factors, the platform can help healthcare providers prioritize resources and intervene early to prevent adverse events.

Read the full article here.

PULSE POINTS
Latest Breakthroughs This Week

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

• M&A: Healthcare technology and enablement company Fabric announced it has acquired virtual care provider TeamHealth VirtualCare, a virtual care provider that is part of physician practice group TeamHealth. The union of Fabric's technology and TeamHealth VirtualCare's provider network will allow Fabric to "deliver operational efficiency, clinical capacity and expanded access for health systems and payers," the company said in a statement. 

• HealthTech Funding: American healthcare technology company Syra Health has announced the closure of its public offering, which has resulted in aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $2.1m. This funding is expected to bolster the company's initiatives in application development and other corporate purposes.

• Collaboration: Teletherapy company Talkspace announced it is partnering with Amazon Health Services to help the tech giant's customers check their eligibility for and enroll in Talkspace's mental health services.

• Implant to Restore Eyesight: Elon Musk's brain-computer interface implant startup Neuralink has received FDA breakthrough device designation for Blindsight, an implant that aims to restore vision in individuals who are blind. Blindsight implants a microelectrode array into the visual cortex of a person’s brain. The array then activates neurons, which then provide the individual with a visual image.

• Device for Sleep Apnea: Apple has received FDA clearance for the sleep apnea feature in its newly released Watch Series 10 and over-the-counter hearing aid software embedded in its AirPods Pro headphones. The Watch Series 10 sleep apnea feature measures whether a user has moderate to severe sleep apnea based on a new metric called Breathing Disturbances. 

EXPERT SPOTLIGHT
Michael Reeves - Fostering Passion for Tech and Care for the Team

This week, HealthTech Zen got in touch with Michael Reeves, who is a technology executive with extensive expertise in software engineering, architecture, DevOps, and development.

What role does/will artificial intelligence play in your current and future projects?

We use AI internally and we expose the benefits of the AI services through our systems. 

Internally, we have found GitHub CoPilot (an AI coding assistant) to be a great tool for our developers. It has sped up development across the board, with only a short learning curve. It has also reduced training time for new developers to learn the custom libraries we have built.

We also use AI services through meeting minutes, schedules, documentation summaries and in several other areas. We are adopting new processes based on these services, and we hardly even recognize that we are using it.

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

To me, 3 key skills stand out as critical for success as a CTO.

Passion for technology: The CTO role is not a 9-5 job, where one shows up, completes items on a known checklist, and then goes home.  This is such a dynamic role, and one must have a solid grasp on the technical environment. This includes not only technology in itself, but also related systems and process.

Care for others: a successful CTO is not isolated and will be judged by what his/her team is able to deliver. No single person should be a "bottleneck" within a team, and this is especially true for its leader. It is difficult for individuals to strive to be better and push the boundaries if they do not feel safe and supported. 

Structure: The CTO needs to create a sheltered environment for the technology team. There must be understood, structured and disciplined practices and processes to bring requests from the business to the tech team, or chaos will ensue.

Read the entire interview here. 

DECODER
What are CPT Codes?

CPT codes (Current Procedural Terminology) are standardized codes used by healthcare providers to document and bill medical, surgical, and diagnostic procedures.

Created by the American Medical Association, they ensure uniform communication for medical services between providers, insurers, and patients, and aid in billing, reporting, and data collection.

Read more about the CPT codes and billing here.