Healthcare costs are on the rise, and they show no signs of leveling off. According to the latest data available from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, healthcare spending in the United States reached $3.5 trillion in 2017, or $10,739 per person. Those costs are projected to rise by about five percent year-over-year.
As expenditures continue to skyrocket, healthcare providers are looking to new technologies and care strategies that can help them treat patients more effectively at a
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What’s AI’s Holdup in Healthcare? The Answer Is In The Cloud
When you consider what technology has the most potential to transform healthcare over the next decade and beyond, no doubt your first thoughts turn to artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL). Already these technologies are showing promise in helping clinicians work faster and smarter, identifying trends, alerting us to signs that can predict and prevent diseases, and providing insights into potential treatments and cures.
But AI, ML, and DL alone cannot
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UCHealth Offers Virtual Assistant “Livi” to Patients Through Amazon Alexa
UCHealth announced this week it now offers a virtual assistant called “Livi” who allows patients to interact universally across the healthcare system using conversational AI, accessed through smart speakers.Introducing Virtual Assistant "Livi"Livi is a fully functional, all-inclusive virtual assistant sets the healthcare system apart from others that have launched virtual assistants only for a few services or specific tasks. Visitors to www.uchealth.org can chat with Livi through text commands,
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Rite Aid Launches Telehealth Kiosks With RediClinic Express in Pennsylvania
Rite Aid Corporation has announced the launch of RediClinic Express, in partnership with InTouch Health, a leading telehealth company that offers telehealth kiosks stations. As part of the partnership, Rite Aid will leverage InTouch Health's virtual care software platform, Solo by InTouch, to power the virtual health program to connect patients to clinicians via RediClinic Express kiosks located in Rite Aid stores. Patients will be able to speak with RediClinic clinicians directly via a
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5 Things Patients Are Looking For On Your Physician Practice’s Website
Patients have taken a more active role in their healthcare journey, and with more digital options than ever before, their expectations have significantly shifted. More are taking their healthcare-related searches online –– an estimated 80 percent according to a recent report by Doctor.com –– and adopting a consumer-like approach, comparing and contrasting providers to find a practice that fits their needs to a tee. With patient consumerism on the rise, it’s become imperative for providers to
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Amazon Alexa Is Now HIPAA-Eligible, What’s Next for Healthcare?
Big News, But Just The Beginning
These days, big news stories in healthcare are just as likely to come from large technology companies as from major healthcare institutions. Case in point: In early 2018, Amazon created a huge stir in the industry early by announcing a venture with JPMorgan and Berkshire Hathaway that promised to go after the “hungry tapeworm” that is the cost of healthcare in the
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How Surgical Robots are Transforming the Operating Room
During a traditional medical operation or surgery, the senior physician is at the helm with supporting doctors and nurses huddled nearby. Often, this process entails surrounding a patient who is positioned on a surgery table.Instruments will be stored in the same room, with nurses and assistants passing the necessary components to the doctor. Everyone listens, everyone works together, and it’s a close-knit, collaborative process.But that’s not how modern surgeries work anymore, at least not when
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Health Navigator, Macadamian Partner to bring Health triage to Consumers with New Alexa Skill
Health Navigator, a company that delivers clinical content for digital health, telemedicine, and eHealth, has partnered with Macadamian, a healthcare-focused software design, and development consulting firm, to develop and demonstrate a proof-of-concept skill for voice-enabled digital assistants. The Alexa Skill lets people seek health information and care advice through their digital assistant anytime, anywhere.Recent surveys from the Pew Research Center show 80 percent of internet users
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Medical Office AI Assistant Nimblr Integrates with Amazon Alexa
Nimblr, which offers the first AI assistant for medical appointments, announced today its platform integration with Amazon Alexa, enabling patients to book and reschedule appointments using voice commands, eliminating the need to pick up the phone. Other voice command platforms will follow in the near future. Nimblr’s Holly AI assistant is meant to automate medical practices’ appointment cycle, to help reduce no-shows, a huge problem that costs the industry up to $150B a year. It also
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The Top 9 Most In-Demand Medical Jobs
Anyone who is looking for job security in the coming years has to look no further than the medical field. As the American population lives longer and the Baby Boomer generation ages the need for medical treatments and disease prevention is growing. The healthcare industry has been a huge economic driver in recent years, and this year hospital jobs grew more rapidly than any other time since 1991.
Another important caveat is the fact that now 89% of people in the U.S. have health insurance.
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