David Rhew, M.D.

Oracle Health announced plans to launch a next-generation EHR platform in 2025, incorporating advanced cloud and AI capabilities. This new EHR will feature Oracle's clinical AI agent, voice-activated navigation, and Health Data Intelligence, which integrates patient data from over 300 sources to enhance clinical workflows and improve patient outcomes. The platform aims to replace traditional EHRs, which often dictate rigid workflows, with a more dynamic system that allows for personalized care plans. Oracle Health emphasizes that the new EHR is a complete reinvention rather than an upgrade of the previous Cerner system. Additionally, Oracle plans to become a Qualified Health Information Network to facilitate standardized data sharing across the healthcare ecosystem. Executives at Oracle also unveiled new cloud applications to improve patient management and streamline front-office operations, reinforcing the company's commitment to enhancing healthcare accessibility and data utility while addressing interoperability challenges in the industry.

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I’ve been given advice that the fastest way to monetize HER Heard without charging the end user (woman) is trackers and selling data. Instead, I’d like to build something more trustworthy. I don’t want to be in a headline like this. If you are not paying, then you are the product (you/your data are being sold). There are newer ways to deindentify data or even to aggregate things women search for that can be of interest to various stakeholders. In theory that could be okay to sell, but in a post-Roe world with laws encouraging bounty hunting, I am vetting the choices ahead. I am all for moving fast, without breaking things.

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Key trends and takeaways from HLTH 2024: 1. AI's Evolving Role: AI dominated discussions, with executives acknowledging its potential while also recognizing challenges in accuracy and clinician trust. There's a shift towards focusing on the practical applications of AI, with a call for partnerships to ensure reliable testing and implementation. 2. Infrastructure Focus: Beyond the glitzy AI tools, there's a growing emphasis on the "picks and shovels" needed for healthcare data accessibility, including infrastructure, compliance, and interoperability. Executives believe that improving data flow will facilitate the effective use of AI. 3. Middlemen Under Scrutiny: Pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) faced criticism for their role in rising drug costs, with discussions highlighting misaligned incentives and the need for transparency in healthcare pricing. 4. Women's Health Spotlight: Women's health initiatives gained attention, particularly following government funding announcements and personal stories shared by advocates. However, investment in women's health remains minimal compared to overall healthcare funding. 5. Interest in Psychedelic Medicine: The potential of psychedelics for treating mental health conditions garnered significant interest, with discussions about funding and research moving forward, especially within the Veterans Affairs system. Executive Takeaways: Leaders from various sectors emphasized the importance of consumer-focused strategies, collaboration, and the need for responsible AI usage. There was a consensus on the critical role of addressing healthcare accessibility, improving patient experiences, and fostering innovations that genuinely enhance care delivery.

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One key reason why healthcare technologies like AI, telemedicine, and software haven't structurally lowered costs or broadened access for the entire system after decades of experimentation (excluding pure financial engineering of payer contracts) is the limited reimagining of care delivery itself, with asynchronous telemedicine as a notable exception. In the same way that digitizing physical paper failed to exploit the capabilities of a new computing medium for word processing, hosting physician-patient conversations over video does not transform the actual delivery of care. In telemedicine, many of the inputs (e.g., clinician time) and therefore cost structures of in-person care persist, which is why we often see fee-for-service telemedicine companies struggle to achieve economies of scale (i.e., growing revenues non-linearly while growing costs linearly). Until we deconstruct the components of a medical appointment – from intake and triage, to chart review, history gathering, physical examination, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up – we will continue to be underwhelmed by the disconnect between the transformative potential of these technologies and real-world patient/system impact. I’m optimistic that the emergence of reliable and performant medical AI agents will urge us to perform this deconstruction and redesign the fundamental building blocks of a “medical appointment.”

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🌟 Generative AI and Healthcare Transformation: A New Era of Innovation 🌟 I am constantly asked about #AI applications for healthcare transformation. I continue to take people back to the pain points or problems being solved. The healthcare industry is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by the integration of generative AI. This revolutionary technology is currently reshaping the way we approach care management, early disease detection, and administrative tasks. Early Benefits of Generative AI: Enhanced Care Management: AI serves as a "co-pilot" for healthcare professionals, assisting in managing patient care more efficiently and accurately. This leads to improved patient outcomes and more personalized care plans. Early Disease Detection: AI's ability to analyze vast amounts of unstructured data enables early identification of diseases, potentially saving lives and reducing healthcare costs. It's a game-changer in preventive healthcare. Reducing Clinician Burnout: By automating repetitive administrative tasks, AI allows clinicians to focus more on patient care. This not only improves job satisfaction but also enhances the quality of care provided. Affordability and Efficiency: AI-driven processes streamline operations, making healthcare more affordable and accessible. From optimizing workflows to reducing operational costs, AI is paving the way for a more sustainable healthcare system. Challenges and Considerations: Ethical and Legal Frameworks: Ensuring AI is used responsibly requires robust ethical, legal, and policy frameworks. Trustworthy AI adoption is crucial for patient safety and health equity. Technology Infrastructure: Organizations need to update their technology infrastructure, including cloud capabilities, to fully support AI implementation. As we embrace these advancements, it's essential to stay informed and engaged in the conversation about how AI can continue to transform healthcare for the better. #HealthcareTransformation #GenerativeAI #HealthTech #Innovation #AIinHealthcare Thanks to sources McKinsey & Company (https://lnkd.in/g7HZHEST) and MedCity News (https://lnkd.in/gi95t4qJ)

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I get Dr. Yang's concern about large, wealthier health systems adopting AI sooner than smaller, poorer organizations, but this is actually a good thing...unless your time horizon is myopically short. Big organizations, with much larger budgets and sophisticated IT teams, can afford to take risks, make mistakes, and test out exciting (but still unproven) emerging tech while smaller organizations certainly can't (for the most part). So let the behemoths take all the risk, do the heavy lifting first, and then smaller organizations get to adopt truly proven solutions at lower risks/prices...once these have run the Kaiser, Mayo, Intermountain, etc., gauntlet. It's all part of the plan... #healthcare #startups #startup #ai #generativeai #digitalhealth #emergingtech Kaiser Permanente Cleveland Clinic Mayo Clinic Risant Health Intermountain Health https://lnkd.in/gckgQB_q

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Title: Bridging the Gap: Public and Private Healthcare Collaboration On June 11, we hosted a pivotal meeting with key voices from both private healthcare providers and public healthcare regulators and providers. The consensus was clear: collaboration between the public and private sectors is essential to create a robust and sustainable healthcare system. Here’s how we can achieve this: 1. Unified Vision:Establish common goals like improving patient outcomes and increasing accessibility. 2. Leverage Strengths:Public systems excel in broad coverage and preventive care, while private providers lead in innovation and efficiency. 3. Data Sharing:Integrate data to enhance diagnosis, treatment, and preventive measures. 4. Joint Investment:Collaborate on funding for advanced medical technologies and telemedicine. 5. Policy Harmonization:Align policies to reduce bureaucratic hurdles and foster innovation. 6. Public-Private Partnerships: Pool resources to tackle infrastructure and rural healthcare challenges. 7. Continuous Improvement: Regular feedback and communication to adapt to changing needs. Our meeting highlighted the potential of collaboration in transforming healthcare. By working together, we can build a more efficient, equitable, and responsive healthcare system. Let’s commit to this collaborative journey for a healthier future. #UHC #medicalai #health #PPP

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Here’s your recap of last week’s health IT news 🗞️ 👇 🤖 AI Clinician Assistant • Avaamo launched an AI ambient scribe solution with support for over 50 specialties with pre-trained models. • Wound AI, an AI clinical decision support solution built by VANTIQ, Telemedicine Solutions, LLC, and NTT DATA, launched and is now available 📞 AI Contact Center • Premier Inc. awarded a group purchasing agreement to TeleVox Healthcare. 🏥 AI Facility Management • Medely has integrated with Oracle, allowing users to leverage Oracle’s Cloud HCM capabilities. 🌡️ AI Remote Patient Monitoring and Triage • The Alliance for Smart Healthcare Excellence—established by care.ai, now a part of Stryker, and developed with assistance from CHIME—was established to promote the Smart Hospital Maturity Model (SHMM). 📈 Data & Analytics • Epic expanded its set of APIs available to developers to support USCDI v3. • Health Catalyst will acquire Intraprise Health, a cybersecurity provider; it was also selected for analytics and interoperability by CyncHealth, Iowa’s health information exchange (HIE). • Health Commons Project acquired OneHealthPort • Socially Determined released a new application that helps organizations access data for minors. 🧾 Orders & Fulfillment • Surescripts is expanding its Medication History for Populations product to health plans, enabling care management teams to identify gaps in care and improve outcomes. 🧑‍💻 Virtual & At-Home Care • Mass General Brigham launched a partnership with the New England Center and Home for Veterans to provide hospital at home services for veterans experiencing homelessness. • MedStar Health expanded its partnership with DispatchHealth to support care transitions.    🍎 VBC • i2i Population Health is partnering with CureMD to surface actionable data to providers at the point of care. 🧠 Food For Thought • Brendan Keeler shared an interesting post differentiating AI solutions across augmentative vs. autonomous and then further breaking down each. One take we found interesting was, “Active interfaces are fun, but ultimately have some of the same problems as Siri - they require explicit engagement and cognitive overhead to use. This means their adoption and impact often fall short of expectations - users must actively remember to use them and overcome the friction of engagement.” https://lnkd.in/eR39qFpK --- Want the latest healthcare tech news delivered to your inbox each week? Sign up here 📬 👉 https://lnkd.in/e2UJ3ckP

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John Kell's recent article in Fortune, "The best investment opportunities in AI for health care right now," provides incredible insights about the challenges of healthcare data and how it impacts the advancement of #ai. Three out of every four leading health care companies are experimenting with generative AI or attempting to scale it across their business. What are they creating and why? Venture capitalist Deena Shakir asks founders if they "are aiming to solve a technology problem or a clinical adoption problem". Solving existing problems will speed decision making and improve data quality. The Deloitte report:  “Navigating the Emergence of Generative AI in Health Care” shares some of the data challenge in health care. While boasting the largest source of raw data, 80% of the data are unstructured.  Simon Gisby, managing director and the global leader of life sciences and health care at Deloitte further expounds "But as an industry, we’re not surprisingly that good at analyzing and drawing correlations out of that" https://lnkd.in/gXE_HVG2 Read thus great article for use cases and examples from fertility and maternal health care to predicting adverse outcomes to drug development and immunotherapies. The future of health and #ai is the hope that we can provide value in health care data equal to the volume we produce Read the article here: https://lnkd.in/gTx6ic_b

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Learn about ethical and practical integration of AI, focusing on creating systems that improve patient care without compromising physician autonomy or patient privacy from speaker Jesse Ehrenfeld MD MPH at AIMed24. He advocates for responsible AI use that supports clinical decision-making, enhances patient safety, and alleviates administrative burdens on healthcare providers. #AIMed24

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Looking forward to sharing recent KLAS Research insights at the upcoming The Millennium Alliance Assembly and learning from attendees their expectations in #digitalhealth for 2025. 🔎 What are the investment priorities of 100 healthcare provider executives and 50 payer executives over the next 2 years? 🔎 How do provider priorities compare to patient expectations? 🔎 What are the current digital health problems that you are trying to solve? 🔎 What digital tools do you plan to add, consolidate, or eliminate? 📢 CHALLENGE FOR THE LINKEDIN COMMUNITY Using 5 words 'What digital health trends do you expect to see in 2025? ' Fun fact: we are about to be 40 years since Marty McFly got in the DeLorean.

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This Bessemer Venture Partners report is basically mandatory reading for anyone working in the healthcare technology. They do such a high quality job categorizing business models and their take of AI companies creating a Service-As-A-Software offering is a meaningful concept to monitor in 2025.

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It's wild to think in 2024 we're FIRST seeing the DOJ accuse telemedicine conglomerates of criminal drug distribution. How long have we known about these practices in brick and mortar care...? Answer: decades! Take it from someone who prescribed stimulants and other psychotropics to kids over the years - painstakingly measuring and documenting the need and impact - these appalling abuses by Done and Cerebral mean we need more calls for thoughtful pause when it comes to working with startups. Particularly about funding's role - my favorite topic! 🤑 How did we end up with venture capital and PE financing in healthcare that risk the safety of kids in the name of exorbitant returns? Not that all VC or PE dollars are bad, of course, but they're certainly key drivers who shouldn't be in that seat. Did we underestimate these funders as 'barbarians at the gate', much like the pharma reps of the 90's and early 2000's heyday? Have we not learned from Purdue Pharma's aggressive and deadly Oxoycontin marketing? Purdue pleaded guilty to criminal charges and paid $600 million in fines in 2007. Or TAP Pharmaceutical Products's Lupron kickback scheme for the prostate cancer drug? TAP also pleaded guilty to criminal charges and paid $875 million in fines in 2001. Or Pfizer marketing Neurontin, an anti-seizure drug, for off-label uses, such as treating pain and bipolar disorder, even though the drug was not approved for these purposes, and paying physicians kickbacks. In 2004, Pfizer pleaded guilty to criminal charges and paid $430 million in fines. Cerebral and Done's playbooks were practically the same thing, just with a modern mid-pandemic, low-regulatory scrutiny, digital-platform twist. Will appropriate regulation ever outpace American venture greed? Is it even possible to ensure patient safety AHEAD of tragedies driven by the intersection of innovation and venture funding? If you're keeping score, healthcare regulatory reactivity: 1 million. Healthcare ounces of smartly preventive policy: 3. Blech. 😖 When will we finally own that prevention in-house? #healthcare #overdoseprevention #suicideprevention

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It seems that the government is serious about finally realizing the vision of true health data interoperability. The attached Point-of-Care Partners blog post describes the recently released HTI-2 Proposed Rule which is another step in the fruition of that vision. Point-of-Care Partners can help your healthcare organization stay ahead of the waves of regulatory activity around interoperability. Let me know if you are interested in learning how.

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If health systems master the art of delivering a world-class consumer experience in urgent care, they can replicate this success across their entire operation, becoming market leaders and thriving in the long term. This is the core thesis of what we do at UCP Merchant Medicine. For nine years, UCP Merchant Medicine has partnered with 68 healthcare operators, most of whom are health systems, to create internal capabilities that allow them to thrive in consumer experience excellence. This isn’t just about having a world-class urgent care platform, this is about owning the future and the capabilities to expand these experiences across the broader health system. As healthcare shifts towards a consumer-driven model, the need for health systems to adapt is more critical than ever. Patients now have unprecedented freedom to choose their care providers, with 45% researching providers and costs before choosing a health plan, and 44% before making an appointment, according to McKinsey’s consumer Health Insights Survey. These improvements are not just numbers; they're about real people getting better access to the care they need when they need it in a way that they will love. This is what we stand for at UCP Merchant Medicine. Join us as we continue to innovate and lead the way in making healthcare more responsive, efficient, and patient-centric. Together, we can transform the future of healthcare! #HealthcareInnovation #PatientCare #UrgentCare #HealthcareLeadership #UCPMerchantMedicine Intellivisit Solutions

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AI in Care Delivery – It’s Here…Sort of As with many new technologies in healthcare, <insert name here> is going to “disrupt” and/or save healthcare from itself. “The next new widget has arrived” and will "bend the cost curve." Many of these technologies, though, are one-dimensional and fail to recognize, or adequately address, the disparity and multivariate inputs of the healthcare delivery ecosystem. In many instances these technologies are doomed to fail before they leave the nest. That said, with reduced payments to clinicians (especially from Medicare/Medicaid) coupled with the rising cost of delivering care, providers and health systems find themselves in a prickly position: how do we maintain, let alone grow, our margins? I’ve been a bit…cautious…about AI in healthcare for what should be obvious/glaring reasons. I’ve also been optimistic understanding that AI should, and will, play a greater role in future healthcare delivery/analytics/ decision making. Some emerging technologies show actual care-delivery promise. Lately I’ve noodled “ambient voice” or “clinical conversation” platform technology at the point of care. Ambient voice converts natural language (e.g. discussions) between clinicians and patients into clinical documentation. I’m interested in this technology primarily because it may help clinicians dig out from under the mind-numbing amount of documentation they perform which is, without argument, unproductive. While a little way to go (nothing in IT is ever “100%”), the benefits of clinical conversation can be: ·  assist in note/documentation clarity/accuracy ·  improve submission timeliness (e.g. reduced lag days from date of service to date of submission – cash acceleration) ·  enhance provider satisfaction/lifestyle (no finishing notes at midnight) · improve patient interaction/satisfaction (Dr. not staring into a computer while chatting with the patient) ·  provide, if desired, the opportunity to see more patients due to efficiencies ·  integration with current EMR vendors (some voice recognition services are integrated into EMRs like eCW and Epic) · per click, low cost (relatively speaking), and ·  some offerings are, or are heading to, a multilingual packages Shortcomings: · possible audio issues due to room set up, etc. (cleaned up with minor tweaks) ·  trial/error effort: > not unlike Dragon Naturally Speaking when it landed in the early 2000s. · Early adoption; some hiccups While no new (or maybe old, for that matter) technology is perfect, this AI-enhanced tech is certainly rowing in the right direction. With proper IT connectivity and “training” the new and upcoming offerings may go a long way to assisting clinicians at the point of care and maybe mitigating clinician burn out. Theoretically, the benefits may be immense in terms of coding/charging, human capital savings, accuracy, revenue cycle, and patient communication/satisfaction. Chalk one up for the tech that may have grown its wings! 

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To meet CMS’ commitment to have all #Medicare beneficiaries in value-based payments (VBP) by 2030, payers have to dig deeper into #VBP design flaws and explore new strategies like: •Creating a coordinated set of VBP model designs to cut wasteful or inefficient spending without asking one participant to forgo all the revenue. •Introducing real savings requirements for shared savings, or implementing a risk-score growth cap to encourage better care practices. •Leaning into mandatory participation in new VBP programs to help ALL types of Medicare beneficiaries – not just larger-scale organizations. Read more about how these solutions can help accelerate VBP adoption in a recent Health Affairs article I wrote with Amol S Navathe and Daniel Shenfeld (linked in comments) #HealthcareonLinkedIn

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Walmart is selling its #telehealth business to Fabric 💸 Fabric is a #healthtech startup that unifies virtual and in-person care across intake, triage, routing, and treatment while automating workflows for staff. They raised a $60M round earlier this year funded by General Catalyst, Thrive Capital, GV (Google Ventures), and Salesforce Ventures. They also made two other acquisitions, Zipnosis (asynchronous #virtualcare) and GYANT (conversational AI assistant used for #digitalfrontdoor) within the past 18 months. 📈 This acquisition will get Fabric access to the 30,000 employers and 5 million members that Walmart served, expand provider network, add virtual behavioral health, and build on their employer’s and payer’s solutions. #digitalhealth M&A activity continue to be trending this year as we’re seeing more synergies come together when companies join forces and the challenging funding environment. I’m curious to see how Fabric will be able to merge these new acquisitions into their current workflow to improve care management. Any thoughts from you❓

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Here’s your recap of last week’s health IT news 🏥 💻 🗞️ 👇 Product updates 👩🏼‍💻 • Augmedix announced public availability of Augmedix Go, their gen AI documentation product, for Emergency Departments.    • Forcura released AI referral summaries for the post-acute market.    • UTM Healthcare and FirstHx are teaming up to provide more robust medical histories.    • AI phone call tech company, Standard Practice, relaunched after pivoting from Nibble Health.    • Revenue cycle management platform, Ensemble Health Partners, is leveraging Microsoft Azure GenAI to enhance their service.    • MRO is extending its clinical data access tool to cover automatic retrieval of continuity of care requests.    • DrFirst, Inc. is partnering with PatchRx to improve medication adherence data. Notable partnerships 🤝 • Brigham and Women's Hospital partnered with FeelBetter to launch a study on the impact of their AI-based population health platform on polypharmacy patient management.    • Community Health Network selected Biofourmis for virtual and at-home care.    • Humana is extending its current use of prior authorizations platform, Cohere Health.    • Louisianan Community Health System deployed Retrieve Medical's Retrieve Dx Smart App to enhance documentation.    • Anne Arundel Dermatology will expand its current partnership with Relatient, adding Dash Schedule. Posts we enjoyed 👏 • Spencer Dorn’s reminder that more mature tech + good process is in many cases the better option than gen AI. (https://lnkd.in/eiK2DNfw) • Graham Walker, MD’s homegrown demo exploring the combination of clinically-informed text search + retrieval augmented generation (RAG) to enable better EHR note summaries. (https://lnkd.in/eDaqCh5H) --- Want to stay in the loop? Sign up for the Elion Briefing to get all of the latest healthcare tech news delivered to your inbox 📬 👉 https://bit.ly/49z6AUW

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