Healthcare AI News 8/14/24

News

Google launches the Pixel Watch 3, whose health-related features include workout biometrics, cardiac tracking, planning and guiding tools for runners, and loss-of-pulse detection that can contact emergency services. The watch costs $350 for the Bluetooth/WiFi version in 41 mm size.

Google also announces Gemini Live, which offers conversational AI for hands-free conversations and integration with apps. It will be available via the Gemini app on Android or as a tab on the Google app for IOS.

Microsoft announces enhancements to Nuance Dragon Ambient EXperience (DAX) Copilot that include the ability to generate referral letters, summaries of evidence, after-visit summaries, and encounter summaries. It also provides user coaching for areas where additional verbalizing would create more complete notes.  

Business

Medical device and equipment manufacturer Stryker will acquire Care.ai to offer customers smart hospital solutions that address nursing shortages, staff retention, and workplace safety. The technology will be integrated with Stryker’s Vocera system, which it acquired for $3 billion in January 2022.

Elise.ai, which sells AI assistants and customer relationship technology to property management companies, raises $75 million in a Series D funding round that values the company at $1 billion. Its Health AI business automates patient conversations and manages appointment scheduling and patient payment.

Amazon describes how its AI work is helping transform healthcare:

• Improving health visits via its HealthScribe ambient documentation service.
• A collaboration with EvolutionaryScale to enable researchers to design new proteins.
• More efficient prescription filling and better customer service in Amazon Pharmacy.
• Using AWS Textract intelligent document processing in Amazon Pharmacy to extract and structure information from digital and paper prescriptions, which allows order processing that is up to 90% faster.
• Partnering with health systems, insurers, and life sciences companies to uncover patient insights while ensuring privacy and security.

Research

Amazon describes the technical underpinnings of its Bedrock service that extracts unstructured data from standardized form entries, using healthcare as an example.

Other

Researchers postulate that clinicians, specifically radiologists, and AI do not make up a synergistic team, as humans rely on their knowledge and environment but AI learns from its own correlations and is not limited by context. They say that AI development is outpacing the understanding of its clinical value and the challenges that are involved in its integration.

Tests of open-source, locally hosted LLMs such as Meta Llama 3 matched the performance of ChatGPT and Claude in answering radiology board exam questions, raising the possibility of healthcare use without the expense and privacy concerns of hosted LLMs.

The minister of health of the Netherlands believes that AI can help solve staff shortages, as tightened immigration laws rule out bringing in workers from other countries.

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
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