Healthcare AI News 2/5/25

News

China-based TikTok parent ByteDance releases OmniHuman-1, an AI tool that transforms a single photo into a lifelike video with natural singing and speech. The technology is raising concerns about more advanced and easily generated deepfakes.

Biomedical researcher Derya Unutmaz, MD uses ChatGPT’s new Deep Research tool to review two cancer cases. He reports, “Both reports were simply impeccable, like something only a specialist MD could write. There’s a reason I said this is a game-changer.” He has previously said that AI will be a standard, required tool in medical practice within two years, and electing not to use it might be considered malpractice. Deep Research is available to ChatGPT Pro subscribers and will be rolled out eventually to Plus subscribers. Users of X say that a key will be if OpenAI can figure out how to provide access to paywalled medical journals.

Britain’s NHS launches a 700,000-patient trial of using AI to screen for breast cancer. The Royal College of Radiologists has urged the government to embrace healthcare AI to help offset a clinician shortage.

Business

Beacon Health System will implement AI-driven medical necessity reviews using the generative AI tool of Xsolis. The health system began using company’s AI to manage people with chronic illness in May 2019.

ScribeAI launches an ambient documentation solution. Co-founder and board chair Kyle Robertson remains CEO of Zealthy. He was fired as CEO of behavioral telehealth startup Cerebral in May 2022 due to federal scrutiny of the company’s controlled substances prescribing practices, after which the company paid $3.6 million in November 2024 to settle charges of encouraging the unauthorized use of controlled substances.

OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman says that the company is considering developing a healthcare-focused version of ChatGPT that would comply with HIPAA.

Research

A JAMA Network discussion of using a secure instance of ChatGPT to draft clinician responses to patient messages makes these points:

• Patients preferred the AI-generated messages.
• A key factor was that the AI messages were more detailed than the quick responses that clinicians wrote in their available time.
• The authors note that appointment lead times are so long that patients will be using AI tools to ask medical questions, even in specialty areas that are not underserved.
• The authors say that healthcare, like other industries, will need to decide between improving clinician working conditions based on freed-up time versus just increasing their workload.

University of Cincinnati associate professor Dong-Gil Ko, PhD proposes a telehealth billing model that rewards experienced, efficient physicians instead of using time-based metrics that pay all providers equally. Ohio’s billing system compensates clinicians based on time spent. He cautions that a downside of the proposed model is that patients may avoid seeking virtual care due to uncertain costs.

Researchers find that ChatGPT effectively de-identifies clinical notes and generates synthetic data, maintaining a balance between data utility and privacy in clinical research.

A study finds that AI-analyzed ECG readings can estimate biological age, potentially linking heart health to cognitive function.

Other

A Health Affairs opinion piece urges the FDA to implement post-market surveillance for healthcare AI applications to detect unintended bias that may only emerge after widespread deployment.

A small Deloitte survey of health system executives finds that 40% report moderate to significant returns on AI investments. Over 80% expect AI to have a substantial impact on their organizations in 2025 but see government regulation as necessary.

A state representative in Oregon submits a bill that would ban the use of “nurse” and similar titles to refer to AI agents.

A woman turns to ChatGPT when doctors are stumped by the cause of fevers and rashes in her five-month-old son. ChatGPT correctly diagnosed him with Kawasaki disease.

The local TV station highlights BayCare St. Anthony’s Hospital’s AI pilot project using Aiva Health’s documentation tool. The system enables conversational EHR access, remote room control, facility-wide communication, and alerts.

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