Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
App Aims To Integrate Transcription Of Medical Visit For Patient's Record
Most attempts to use artificial intelligence to transcribe doctor visits are aimed at limiting documentation burdens for physicians and making it easier to load clinical information into electronic health records. A new company founded by a cardiologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is flipping that script: It is focused on transcribing visits for patients, documenting key details about their visits on a personalized app that they control. (Ross, 5/22)
Kaiser Health News: Coronavirus Tests The Value Of Artificial Intelligence In Medicine
Dr. Albert Hsiao and his colleagues at the University of California-San Diego health system had been working for 18 months on an artificial intelligence program designed to help doctors identify pneumonia on a chest X-ray. When the coronavirus hit the United States, they decided to see what it could do. The researchers quickly deployed the application, which dots X-ray images with spots of color where there may be lung damage or other signs of pneumonia. (Gold, 5/22)
The COVID-19 pandemic shifted telemedicine from an outlier to a necessity almost overnight, and doctors say they can't see ever going back to their old model of care. "It's hard to imagine us going back to doing everything in the office," said Joe Kvedar, MD, president-elect of the American Telemedicine Association in Arlington, Virginia, "It's more convenient, patients are happier, we get the information we need, and we can open up more slots for other patients." (Van Beusekom, 5/21)
