Healthcare AI Guy Weekly | 11/26

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Highlights if you’ve only got 2 minutes…

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ChatGPT outperforms doctors in diagnostic challenge

A recent JAMA study has gone viral, fueled by impressive results and amplified by the New York Times. The study highlights AI’s potential in healthcare, with ChatGPT achieving 92% accuracy in diagnostic reasoning—outperforming doctors using LLMs (76%) and those working alone (74%). Testing involved 50 physicians across multiple hospitals, with results consistent across experience levels, from residents to attendings. However, the study has also sparked controversy since the study relied on just six hand-picked cases from a dataset of 105, raising questions about validity. We’re still early in the AI journey, so although this study wasn’t without its critics it showcases AI’s transformative promise in boosting diagnostics long-term. (study)(article)

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Payer & provider leaders share their vision for AI

A Define Ventures survey of over 60 payor and provider execs shows that the buzz around AI in healthcare is intensifying. Providers and payers are shifting from pilots to scalable solutions, focusing on operational "quick wins" like ambient scribing—crucial for reducing burnout and retaining clinicians. Below are five things to know from the report. (link)

• 53% percent of respondents said AI is a top priority right now.

• 73% have established governance structures to guide their AI efforts.

• Main priorities for AI committees: identifying and prioritizing AI use cases (91%), creating ethics and safety guidelines (87%), and setting data policies (84%).

• 76% of organizations plan to launch small AI pilot projects to test its impact before broader rollouts. Another 71% are working on identifying specific areas where AI can provide value.

• 64% percent of leaders said they plan to work with external vendors, while 51% aim to build AI capabilities in-house.

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The next big technologies in health for 2024

Fast Company, just released their Next Big Things in Tech list of emerging healthcare technologies such as AI for disease diagnosis and treatment discovery, along with automated credentialing for health systems. The list recognizes innovative companies based on relevance, ingenuity, progress, and impact. Here are the healthcare AI winners. (link)(tweet)

• Proscia – AI for cancer diagnosis

• Certify Health – AI credentialing tools

• Color Health – digital cancer care support

• Anumana – AI algorithms for electrocardiograms

• Pangea Biomed – identifying patients for precision cancer treatments

Tools & Partnerships 🔧

Latest on business, consumer, and clinical healthcare AI tools and partnerships…

TOOLS

• Elon Musk's Neuralink gets green light for more clinical trials: Neuralink, the brain technology company, is set to launch its first international clinical trial. The company has received approval from Health Canada to evaluate the safety of Neuralink's implant and surgical robot while testing the effectiveness of its brain-computer interface (BCI). (link)

• Microsoft unveiled a new AI foundation model for biomedical images: The model BiomedParse, is a GPT-4-powered AI system capable of analyzing medical imagery to identify various conditions, from tumors to COVID-19 infections, through simple text prompts. (link)

• WellSky’s launches AI-powered SkySense Suite: WellSky unveiled its SkySense suite of AI-powered tools designed to increase clinician efficiency, including WellSky Extract (pulls key information from documents), WellSky Scribe (provides ambient documentation), and WellSky Summarize (AI-generated medical record summaries). (link)

• NIH-developed AI algorithm matches potential volunteers to clinical trials: The National Institutes of Health introduced TrialGPT, an AI algorithm that matches patients to clinical trials with the same accuracy as human clinicians, reducing screening time by 50%. (link) 

• Jimini launches AI assistant, Sage: Jimini Health launched with $8M in pre-seed funding to perform teletherapy sessions using an AI assistant named Sage. Patients can talk with Sage to receive responses about their mental health that are informed by the information their therapist shared during actual sessions. (link)

• Teladoc Health launches AI motion detection solution for patient safety in hospital beds: Teladoc Health launched an artificial-intelligence-enabled technology that allows hospital staff to virtually detect when a patient is at risk of falling from a hospital bed. The solution, unveiled Monday and called Virtual Sitter, is now commercially available. (link)

• FDA grants authorization for AI-powered blood pressure monitor: Omron Healthcare announced the FDA De Novo authorization of its AI-powered home blood pressure monitor, which uniquely adds AFib detection. (link)

PARTNERSHIPS

• Tenet + Commure: Nashville, Tenn.-based Tenet Healthcare plans to launch Commure's ambient AI platform across its physician network. The technology covers the patient's clinical care journey and streamlines data collection, documentation and clinical workflows. (link)

• Cambridge Health Alliance + Abridge: Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), the only public academic health system in Massachusetts, is deploying Abridge's AI-based medical note-taking tool across its 600 clinicians after a successful pilot. (link)

• Americare + FeelBetter: FeelBetter, a startup that launched six years ago, is expanding its AI-based medication management platform into long-term care through a partnership with Americare. (link)

Deal Desk 💸 

Spotlight on latest capital raises, M&A, and investments…

FUNDING

• Enveda, a Boulder-based AI-powered medicine developer from natural compounds, raised $130M in Series C funding. Kinnevik and FPV led the round and were joined by Baillie Gifford, Premji Invest, Lingotto Innovation, and others. (link)

• Ōura, a Finnish maker of sleep rings and other wearables, raised $75M from Dexcom (Nasdaq: DXCM) at a $5b valuation. (link)

• Homethrive, a provider of technology-enabled caregiving solutions, raised over $20M. TELUS Global Ventures and 7Wire Ventures led the funding round, with participation from others. (link)

• New Lantern, an AI radiology startup, raised $19M in Series A funding led by Benchmark. (link)

• Citizen Health, a San Mateo, Calif.-based consumer health AI platform, raised $14.5M in seed funding. Transformation Capital led the round and was joined by Wavemaker 360 and angel investors. (link)

• Jimini Health, a New York City-based AI-supported mental healthcare platform, raised $8M in pre-seed funding from Zetta Venture Partners, LionBird, PsyMed, and others. (link)

• Cofactor AI, a platform for appealing health claim denials, raised $4M in seed funding led by Drive Capital. (link)

• Revisto, a San Antonio-based medical, legal, and regulatory AI review solution for pharmaceutical marketing materials, raised $4M in seed funding. LiveOak Ventures led the round and was joined by Eli Lilly, Tau Ventures, and Arkin Digital Health. (link)

• DANNCE.AI, a Boston-based AI biomarkers platform for neurological care, raised $2.6M in pre-seed funding. LDV Capital led the round and was joined by others. (link)

GRANTS

• Google, Google.org launched a $20M funding initiative to accelerate AI-driven scientific breakthroughs, offering academic and nonprofit organizations cloud credits and technical support. (link)

Other Relevant News 🔍

News, podcasts, blogs, tweets, resources, etc… 

• Roadmap for healthcare AI policy (link)

• FDA advisory committee to roll up sleeves on AI (link)

• The dark side of AI for hospitals (link)

• Menlo Ventures: the state of AI in the enterprise (link)

• LLM inference costs are going down fast (link)

Visuals of the Week 📸

Funny memes, cool pics, and interesting data from around the web…