Michael Nadeau, P.Eng.

Here’s your recap of last week’s health IT news 🗞️ 👇 🥼AI Clinician Assistant • Suki : The AI scribe announced an SDK and APIs enabling developers to integrate ambient documentation into their applications. • Apricot: The gen AI pre-seed startup focused on reducing documentation overhead for home health nurses launched. • Tampa General Hospital + Palantir Technologies: The health system and the software platform are partnering to develop an AI care coordination and decision support platform. ☎️ AI Contact Center • Mediktor + Sensely: The AI symptom triage solution acquired the conversational member engagement platform. 📋  Patient Administration • Oracle (Cerner) + Loyal: The EHR now offers integration with the patient engagement solution through its Healthcare Marketplace. • HubSpot: The CRM and marketing platform announced it will now offer HIPAA support and sensitive data tools. 🏥 Provider and Practice Administration • LeanTaaS: The AI-enabled facility management solution released updates including: mobile-first live view of OR schedule, predictive staffing automation, and a gen AI solution allowing decision-makers to glean staffing and scheduling insights. ⚕️ Clinical Operations • Keragon: The HIPAA-compliant automation platform launched out of stealth with a $3M funding round. 🧑‍💻 Virtual and At-Home Care • AvaSure + CLEW: The virtual care platform is partnering with the AI-powered remote patient monitoring and analytics company to improve patient outcomes. 🍎 VBC • Evolent + Machinify, Inc.: The VBC org acquired AI Authorization assets from the AI operating system platform.    • ProgenyHealth, LLC + Wildflower Health: The maternity and NICU case management solution is partnering with the women’s health VBC enabler to “help health plans fill gaps, collapse silos and integrate into existing clinical and operational workflows.”    • Health Catalyst + Carevīve: The population health data and analytics company has completed acquisition of the cancer care management solution. 🧠 Food for Thought: • This article provided an interesting look at Nebraska Medicine’s efforts to design a next-generation hospital room, including the four technologies they’ve selected to anchor their work. https://lnkd.in/em-u-a5v    • McKinsey released a survey of 200 global health system executives on their investment priorities. Among the notable findings, 88% listed AI as an area of high potential impact, yet only 40% have implemented any solution thus far and over 20% don’t have plans to invest in the next two years. https://lnkd.in/eK3CeqQ2

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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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3 noteworthy acquisitions were announced in #DigitalHealth last week, moving the total to 76 acquisitions in 2024 till date. - On Tuesday, Switzerland-based Mediktor announced the acquisition of Sensely, a San Francisco-based digital healthcare provider that pioneered an empathy-driven conversation platform to support hospital systems and insurance services with world-class member engagement. - On Thursday, Carevīve was acquired by Health Catalyst. The acquisition strengthens Health Catalyst's position in the digital healthcare market, expanding its capabilities in patient engagement and care coordination. - On Friday, Doktor.se announced that it acquired competitor Doktor24. The combined entity will provide a comprehensive suite of digital healthcare services, including telemedicine consultations, patient engagement platforms, and data analytics capabilities. Compared to last year, the total number of acquisitions is still trending significantly lower. Till date, the M&A activity in Digital Health has been 14% lower as compared to the same period last year. #Merger #Acquisitions #healthcarefinancing Source: All data from Alpha Edge, the business intelligence tool in HealthTech Alpha

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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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⚕#Podcast Slice of Healthcare: Empowering Customer-Centric AI In Healthcare Innovation⚕ Check out this 15-minute podcast, guest hosted by Aasim Saeed, MD-MPA of Amenities Health at #HLTH2024 and featuring #Pegasus startup leaders, Val Brown of Strolll , George Tomeski of Helfie and Ankur Teredesai of CueZen. Topics covered: 💡 Direct-to-Consumer AI in Health: Explore how consumer-oriented AI technologies allow patients to monitor conditions via mobile devices, reducing the need for traditional healthcare visits. 💡Personalized Healthcare at Scale: Learn about AI’s role in customizing treatment plans for millions, moving beyond standardized care to personalized solutions. 💡Augmented Reality for Patient Recovery: Discover how AR tech is enhancing rehabilitation for conditions like Parkinson’s by tailoring exercises to individual patient journeys. 💡Microsoft Pegasus Program: Insights on the Microsoft Pegasus Program’s impact in connecting health startups with healthcare systems for accelerated innovation and scale. 💡Challenges for Startups in Healthcare: A discussion on balancing innovation with adaptability within the existing healthcare framework. Thanks, Jared S. Taylor and team for your partnership! Derek Haynes Vikas Arora Bethany Cordes Jared Prins Tom Davis Andrea DeCamp Sylvie Atkins Ted Roduner Microsoft for Startups Microsoft for Healthcare #AIinHealth #PatientExperience #PersonalizedMedicine #AR #rehab #Innovation #Healthcare #HealthcareOnLinkedIn #startupsuccess

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#HealthAI #Ai is revolutionizing every aspect of our lives, including healthcare. But are we ready for this change? AI is transforming medical diagnosis: systems now analyze X-rays, MRIs, and ultrasounds with unprecedented speed and accuracy, identifying critical issues in real-time. Companies like Aidoc have developed technologies that detect brain hemorrhages and tiny tumors often missed by human doctors. The advantages are clear: 1. Faster #diagnosis, potentially saving lives 2. Increased accuracy in identifying subtle patterns 3. Reduction of human error However, we must remember: 1. Humans tend to over-trust #technology, especially AI 2. AI can make mistakes, particularly with incomplete or inaccurate data 3. AI is a powerful tool but doesn't replace medical judgment (yet?) The key is combining AI capabilities with human expertise. This collaborative approach leverages the strengths of both, leading to better outcomes.

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"The Future of Compounding Medications: Generative AI & Machine Learning Leading the Way 🚀 In functional medicine, the need for precision and personalization is reshaping how we approach healthcare. When it comes to compounding medications like bioidentical hormones, peptides, and low-dose naltrexone (LDN), both Generative AI and Machine Learning (ML) are proving to be game-changers. Here’s how these technologies are revolutionizing compounding pharmacies and personalized medicine: Generative AI: Transforming Formulations ✅ Optimized Formulations: AI analyzes massive datasets—patient history, lab results, and clinical guidelines—to recommend the most precise formulations for individual needs. ✅ Enhanced Efficiency: AI accelerates research and development processes, ensuring customized medications reach patients faster. ✅ Improved Outcomes: Tailored solutions align with patient-specific biomarkers, resulting in better outcomes and fewer side effects. Machine Learning: Predictive Insights & Automation ✅ Predictive Modeling: ML algorithms identify patterns in patient data, helping clinicians forecast outcomes and refine medication dosages based on real-time feedback. ✅ Quality Control: ML ensures accuracy in ingredient selection, mixing processes, and final product quality, reducing human error and enhancing safety standards. ✅ Patient Monitoring: ML-powered platforms analyze ongoing patient data—such as HRV, blood sugar levels, or hormonal fluctuations—to adjust medication plans dynamically, improving efficacy over time. What Does This Mean for Compounding Pharmacies? 🔹 Data-Driven Decision Making: AI and ML empower pharmacists to make evidence-based decisions quickly and confidently. 🔹 Streamlined Operations: From ingredient sourcing to final formulations, automation through ML ensures efficiency and consistency. 🔹 Scalable Personalization: With these tools, compounding pharmacies can scale personalized care to meet growing demands without compromising on quality. The fusion of human expertise with AI and ML is redefining how we deliver care. These technologies don’t replace the pharmacist or clinician but instead supercharge their ability to innovate, leading to better patient outcomes and streamlined workflows. As someone passionate about wellness and technology, I believe this is just the beginning of what’s possible in healthcare. The convergence of AI, ML, and functional medicine is a transformative force that will unlock new levels of personalized care, efficiency, and innovation. What role do you see AI and ML playing in the future of medicine? Let’s discuss!" Noha S. Thierry Hertoghe, MD Hwaida Hannoush, MD, FASE #FunctionalMedicine #GenerativeAI #MachineLearning #CompoundingPharmacy #PersonalizedMedicine #BioidenticalHormones #Peptides #LowDoseNaltrexone #AIInHealthcare #PrecisionMedicine #HealthTechInnovation

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Does the perfect category for #digitalhealth innovation exist? When it comes to #gastroenterology (GI), the answer is yes. The digital transformation of healthcare is in full bloom, but it’s increasingly clear that not all specialist categories are created equal. Payers, employers and providers are all triangulating on those that hold the most potential to increase access, improve patient outcomes, and lower the total cost of care. GI sits at the center of this overlap for five clear reasons: 💲 High potential for cost savings: GI care is expensive – especially when the journey escalates to the emergency room – yet we know what works to keep symptoms controlled, improve outcomes and drive down costs. 🔎 Large addressable population: Digestive issues regularly affect 60% of the population with 25% having a formal diagnosis, making this a high-potential area for care innovation. 🚽 High patient motivation: GI symptoms negatively affect work, personal life, mental health and family well-being. As a result, patients are highly motivated to understand root causes and gain control of their symptoms and are willing to engage in treatment. 👩‍⚕️ Need for high-touch, iterative care to confirm diagnosis and treatment:  Many GI conditions lack precise diagnostic tests and medications alone don’t solve the symptoms - identifying and addressing root causes with dietary changes and gut-brain therapy requires frequent and iterative support from a #multidisciplinarycare team. 🤝 Significant benefit to GI providers: The traditional GI system is at capacity. New digital care offerings can extend its reach, enhance its effectiveness and improve its economics in ways that local clinics aren’t structured to support on their own. GI presents a unique opportunity in digital health—offering transformative potential for outcomes, costs, and patient experience, and creating a system where everyone wins. Digestive symptoms like abdominal pain are the #1 reason for treat-and-release ER visits and the second leading cause of short-term disability claims. Many employers find themselves writing blank checks due to the fee-for-service payment model not creating accountability to fully solve employees’ GI problems. Rising costs, unmanaged site-of-service choices, and frustrated employees all add to the strain. For employees, digestive health struggles can bring frustration, isolation, embarrassment, and lost productivity. Oshi Health addresses these issues by delivering in-network, clinically proven, and accessible GI care in partnership with local GI providers. As the first virtual GI center of excellence at nationwide scale, we employ specialists across GI fields, including physicians, nurse practitioners, psychologists, and registered dietitians, while partnering with local GI practices for in-person care and procedures. Who loses in this model? Your ER spend? #valuebasedcare #quadrupleaim Sameer Berry Randy Forman Brian Kastenholz Nathan Paulsen, MBA Mike Goodman

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This truly highlights the tension between innovation and market dominance in health tech. Particle Health's challenge against Epic could set a significant precedent for data interoperability and patient rights. As regulatory scrutiny on monopolistic practices intensifies, it will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

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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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#Healthcare is often criticized for not being ‘digital’ enough. It seems so easy to adopt novel #healthtech if they truly make a change in patient care. But that underestimates the amount of work that is required on #digitaltransformation which is not project-specific and organization-wide. The interview below highlights those points vividly. “Digital transformation for providers encapsulates the intentional development and evolution of a collective digital health capability maturity across the organization. This is multilayered, and includes new capabilities, technologies, processes, resources, strategies and culture to drive consumer engagement and enablement in their personal care journey.” It also goes to define #digitalhealth for providers more broadly and explains how value-based care might actually help with adoption of new technology. Higher stickiness, less complications, and less drop-outs will ultimately become new revenue streams for providers themselves.

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Adoption is the final step...

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To follow up on Dede Ainbinder recent post: If we use the current EHR data to build a AI clinical decision support tool it is unlikely to capture our clinical decision making process. EHR's are inherently designed to maximize billing and minimize risk of litigation. A clinical decision support tool based on this data will likely do the same. There is a large sunken cost fallacy here where we continue to hang on to garbage data. Just because the data gathering and storage process was capital and time intensive doesnt mean the data is valuable. To truly capture the clinical decision process we need to capture data which sits outside billing and litigation. Its hard to imagine a future where this data isnt used for billing and cannot be called upon during litigation. #EHR #healthdata #clinicaldecision

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“𝘼𝙨 𝙬𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 [𝘼𝙄 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙛𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨]... 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 [𝙤𝙛 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨] 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧, 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 5% 𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚... 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝘼𝙄 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙛𝙩 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚... 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙬𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨...” This week on the podcast we went DEEP on a wide range of topics with Allen Hsiao MD, FAAP, FAMIA, Chief Health Information Officer at Yale New Haven Health: → When Yale started using Epic’s draft AI responses for patient portal messages, they started with 30 doctors who found the AI drafts useful 40% of the time. Since then, it’s been made available to 900+ doctors… who only find the AI drafts useful 5% of the time. What happened and what have they learned? → Why Generative AI for clinical conversations will only be effective if it develops the nuance of a clinician to address clinical questions effectively and safely. → Why ambient / AI scribes have been most useful in the outpatient setting, fairly useful in the ED but not yet useful in the inpatient setting or for highly complex patients with multiple issues. → Yale’s unique Dr. Hsia “opt-out” approach leveraging MyChart to improve research participation, especially in populations traditionally underrepresented in clinical studies. … plus much, much more! Link to the full episode in the comments 👇

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Need more proof that New York has taken center stage in the world of digital health? Look no further than the latest report from Silicon Valley Bank, as covered by Gabriel Perna in Modern Healthcare. Here’s what you need to know: ☑ The epicenter of digital health has shifted from the West to East Coast. New York companies received $2.3B in venture-backed health tech investments in the first eight months of 2024, compared to $2.1B earned by Silicon Valley firms. Among New York’s biggest deals is Maven Clinic, which raised a $125M Series F earlier this month. ☑ $100M+ mega deals are leveling off. They represented 34% of dollars raised in the first eight months of this year and in 2023. In 2021 and 2022 they were a much larger piece of the pie.  ☑ AI-focused deals are on the upswing. As you might’ve heard at the Digital Health New York Summit in September, everyone’s thinking about the nuances of AI—and investors poured 44% of their total dollars into companies focused on the technology so far this year.  ☑ Companies focused on provider operations are a growing point of interest in the M&A space. Beyond that subsector, most M&A deals involved wellness and alternative care firms. We're thrilled to see so much progress reshaping healthcare emanating from NYC. https://lnkd.in/eCt3yJMT?

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A regulation is nothing more than entranchment of error into a system. CON laws? Administrative regulatory bodies? Value systems decided in closed door sessions? Healthcare has so much entrenched error it has limited innovation. Is this by design? Wanna see the $2 imaging exam? The $.35 cancer drug…remove entrenched error.

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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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