Artificial intelligence (AI) is earning recognition for its potential benefits to the healthcare sector at large, from its ability to improve care and increase efficiency, to its ability to lower costs throughout the industry. For example, applications of AI include detecting distress in hospital workers' conversations, improving providers’ revenue cycle operations, transforming healthcare supply chains – and mitigating existing racial biases in medicine.
Much of the attention surrounding
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Transforming Healthcare Through Ethical AI: Enhancing Trustworthiness, Privacy, and Compliance
In November, President Biden signed a new Executive Order – titled “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence” – that promises to introduce new national AI regulations that focus on safety and responsibility in the use of this revolutionary new technology. Fast on the heels of this high-profile EO, the Biden Administration has already started the process of writing actual standards for the safe use of generative AI by announcing that the U.S. Department of Commerce. In late December,
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Beyond the Hype: How AI is Helping Transform Neurodegenerative Disease Treatment Right Now
Artificial intelligence (AI) can be a sensitive subject for some healthcare professionals, and rightfully so. It was not too long ago that IBM’s Watson supercomputer won on “Jeopardy!” The hype and hubris that followed led to one of the great all-time examples of technology that some might say over-promoted and under-delivered. However, in the years that followed, AI, such as machine learning (ML), has managed to integrate into all facets of healthcare research and analysis. Some of the
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Improving Healthcare for Patients & Providers Through AI & Machine Learning
With many economic hurdles this year including rising costs and inflation, the healthcare industry has had a challenging backdrop in which to operate. In a sector dedicated to improving and saving lives, healthcare has so much to gain by adopting new AI and machine learning (ML) technologies. The World Economic Forum sums up the transformative potential of AI and ML in this setting: from propelling the development of drugs and vaccines to improving medical diagnosis and treatment, it can
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Devastating Drug Shortages and How Hospitals Can Mitigate Them
Modern medicine delivers miracles every day, but there are challenges, too. At any given time, 300 or more drugs bloat the FDA’s shortage list. Many of these medicines, including life-saving cancer drugs, don’t get to the patients who need them.
Drug shortages have a variety of causes, including contamination at pharmaceutical plants, major storms, supply chain issues, or runs on important vaccines. The Wall Street Journal blames downward pressure on drug prices.
Shortages of vital
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From Chaos to Calm: How ER Scheduling Could Help Fix Emergency Care Challenges
Staffing shortages and rising costs leave ERs in chaos and even force some hospitals to shut down money-losing emergency departments altogether. Chaotic or closed emergency rooms not only cost lives but cut off a pipeline of new patients that provide income for hospitals and jobs for specialist physicians.
The main driver behind ER chaos and expense is a nationwide shortage of trained doctors and nurses. A single nurse often has to care for ten or more patients in the ED simultaneously,
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Clinical Trial Payments: Optimizing the Path Forward for Site Payments
Escalating competition for clinical trial sites, in tandem with other industry-wide challenges such as changing regulations; a lack of bandwidth and resources; identifying ideal sites and recruiting and retaining patients, are posing significant obstacles for sponsors and site teams within a global study portfolio, particularly in relation to clinical trial payments. Factors such as decentralized clinical trials, inflation and site attrition contribute to inconsistencies and financial confusion,
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Lessons Learned from the AIDS Crisis to Combat Congenital Syphilis
Public health learnings and data gathered over the 40 years of the AIDS crisis can help officials tackle the rise of congenital syphilis, which increased 755% from 2012 to 2021 and another 30% in 2022. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently noted “missed opportunities for prevention, primarily timely testing and appropriate treatment of syphilis during pregnancy” as contributing factors to its meteoric rise.
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How AI is Changing the Conversation Around Hospital Denials – and Improving Financial Implications in the Process
Of the many complexities within the healthcare industry, medical necessity determinations can be the most challenging – and pose one of the greatest barriers to efficient revenue cycle processes and appropriate reimbursement. Complex medical necessity policies that differ between payer, diagnosis, and presentation have muddled utilization review (UR) and revenue cycle processes for years, driving waste and friction between providers and payers that has only intensified since the pandemic.
In
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Making Informed Decisions: What You Need to Know Before Hiring a Software Expert for a Healthcare Project
Hiring professional software experts is crucial for business owners looking to develop or enhance their software systems. However, finding the right vendor is often a daunting challenge that may lead to long-term consequences.This article provides comprehensive guidelines on what healthcare business owners need to know before choosing the right software vendor. By understanding delivery models, the importance of checking references, and paying attention to the details that differentiate between
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