🧠 AI Brain Decoder

Good morning! 

Welcome to Healthcare AI News, your weekly dose of the latest developments and headlines in the world of Healthcare AI.

In this issue, we explore:

✅ Feature: How AI wearables are transforming Insurance & Wellness

✅ Headline: Cedars Sinai: Can AI predict heart attack risk?

✅ Industry: United Healthcare reports a data breach

✅ Tech:  Cornell study: Open GPT model tuned for medical data

✅ Deal Flow: Astellas to acquire Iveric Bio for $5.9 billion

Be sure to read on to see this week's Top headlines, Industry, Tech, and M&A news.

Let's dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

• AI ‘Brain Decoder’ system translates human brain activity (Read more)

• Top AI CEOs will meet at White House (Read more)

• Microsoft reportedly developing privacy-focused ChatGPT for healthcare (Read more)

• ChatGPT demonstrates greater empathy than doctors, study reveals (Read more)

• AI 'Godfather' Geoffrey Hinton warns of dangers as he quits Google (Read more)

• Healthcare advances will be powered by human-trained AI (Read more)

• Cedars Sinai: Can AI predict heart attack risk? (Read more)

• A team of scientists at UCSD, has discovered a way to potentially slow down the aging process by up to 82% (Read more)

• Proving AI in the Clinic: An Algorithm that accurately evaluates heart failure (Read more)

• UnitedHealthcare owes Envision $91.2 million in disputed payments, according to arbitrators (Read more)

• AI faces a long road ahead in Healthcare - 'it lacks structure' (Read more)

• Three trends of transformation: How AI & Value-Based Care (VBC) will drive the transformation of Self-Insured Healthcare (Read more)

💡 Keep reading to catch up on Industry, Tech & Deal flow

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THE FEATURE

HealthTech Unleashed: AI Wearables Transforming Insurance & Wellness

Wearable technology isn’t exactly new. In fact, some argue that glasses and wristwatches were some of the earliest forms of wearable technology. Fast forward a few hundred years and advancements in computer power have led to well-known wearable technology devices like Fitbit, Google Glass, Oculus, and Apple Watch.

While these wearables serve all kinds of functions, a good number of them are health-focused. They can do everything from helping us monitor our workouts to checking our pulse.

Now, we are living in the “Age of AI.” We’re not only seeing the power of AI in tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney. AI is already being integrated into wearable technology, making it that much more insightful for patients, doctors, and professionals in the health insurance industry.

There’s Already Exciting Progress

AI-driven health tracking is already making it much easier to analyze all kinds of health data. Your Apple Watch, for instance, can monitor your heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and even determine whether you have fallen. However, new apps that leverage AI can lead to even more health insights. For instance:

• An app developed by Mayo Clinic transmits ECG readings to a medical center, where AI can recognize left ventricular dysfunction.

• Apple is reportedly developing an app called Quartz, which is an AI-powered health coaching service.

• The FDA cleared the use of NeuroRPM, which is an app powered by AI that can monitor key symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

Apple isn’t the only company that is innovating here. Tempur-Pedic has developed so-called Sleeptracker-AI technology to help customers sleep better. During Covid-19, smart AI techniques were used to detect the virus among those wearing an Oura smart ring. According to a study from GlobalData, there were 37 firms that launched remote patient monitoring devices during Covid-19—many of which rely on AI

A Game-Changer for the Health Insurance Industry

So what does all of this mean for the Health Insurance industry? For starters, underwriting and risk assessment will be drastically different. According to a McKinsey study, underwriting in 2030 will “cease to exist” as we know it today. It will occur only in a few seconds, as sophisticated machine and deep learning models will offer a hyper-personalized quote for the insured’s individual needs.

Health incentive programs will also be relevant. Already, insurers like UnitedHealthcare offer rewards programs that incentivize healthy habits. But as AI advances, we will likely see even more customized rewards programs that offer discounts for hitting certain health goals. This can lead to better health outcomes for patients and cost savings for insurers.

Even if patients aren’t using these increasingly sophisticated wearables, health insurers can use AI to deliver better and cheaper offerings to their customers. For instance, on-demand insurance products can let customers cover specific events or time periods. Insurers can rely on AI algorithms to quickly determine risk and offer dynamic pricing. Leveraging vast amounts of data, AI can make the best risk-adjusted decisions that provide significant value to both insurers and customers.

But back to wearables. Inevitably, discussions of wearable technology touch on several ethical considerations. They range from data privacy concerns to the potential for discrimination. A review of studies in Lancet Digital Health, for instance, found that deidentifying data from wearable devices still may not be enough to protect user privacy. Insurers need to keep these concerns in mind as AI and wearable technology gets better.

The Future of Wearable Technology and Health Insurance

The future of wearable technology, AI, and health insurance is incredibly exciting. Already, we can see companies that are taking the technology in incredibly interesting ways.

• Caption Health uses AI to assist with ultrasound scans. Through its Capture Care service, it can more easily detect heart disease. Recently, the company announced that it would be acquired by GE Healthcare.

• AliveCor has developed AI-enabled ECG sensors to deliver medical-grade heart data to patients and cardiologists. Its wearable products are clinically validated and can detect up to six of the most common heart arrhythmias.

• Ava offers a fertility bracelet that helps women track their menstrual cycles. Leveraging some sophisticated machine learning algorithms, the company can identify the user’s five most fertile days of the month, making it easier for them to get pregnant.

Limeade has developed a FitBit app that can help users determine whether they are burnt out. It capitalizes on AI and machine learning patterns to do so, while also offering tips on how users can manage their stress levels.

The Takeaway

Overall, the global AI medical device market is expected to grow to $35.4 billion by 2032 (representing nearly 25% CAGR). Health insurers should pay close attention to these startups and larger companies that are using wearable technology and AI in extremely interesting ways. Not only can these products offer better experiences for patients, but they can help insurers obtain valuable data, thereby reducing costs and offering more value to policyholders.

INDUSTRY NEWS

• Experimental Alzheimer’s drug slows cognitive declines in large trial, drugmaker Eli Lilly says (Read more)

• US Surgeon General: Time to fix the problem of loneliness in US (Read more)

• DEA temporarily extends virtual prescribing for controlled substances (Read more)

• AI reviews patient perceptions of Cholesterol Drugs (Read more)

• United Healthcare reports a data breach that may have revealed customers' personal information (Read more)

• Tech increases equity in diabetes care for kids (Read more)

• Mayo Clinic: Deep learning may improve head, neck radiotherapy (Read more)

• AI detects fractures on CT images for osteoporosis diagnostics (Read more)

• The high cost of Health Insurance threatens main street. It’s time for Congress to act (Read more)

• Half of all eligible Medicare beneficiaries are now enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans (Read more)

• Payers are concerned about gene-therapy drug costs: 5 things to know (Read more)

TECH NEWS

• Web3 as a service: Exploring real-world applications of Blockchain tech (Read more)

• Honeycomb announces generative AI-driven natural language querying for observability (Read more)

• CEOs are getting closer to finally saying it - AI will wipe out more jobs than they can count (Read more)

• Breaking the Monolith: A comprehensive guide to code splitting techniques (Read more)

• Corporate technology under new scrutiny amid recession fears (Read more)

• Is the technology solution always the best answer? (Read more)

• AI in Healthcare: What’s to be done about data? (Read more)

• How ‘centaur AI’ will radically reshape the future of healthcare (Read more)

• SAP signs IBM Watson deal, ChatGPT showstopper waits in the wings (Read more)

• Cornell study: Open GPT model tuned for medical data. This research demonstrates that although utilizing PEFT is more cost-effective, its performance can occasionally be considerably inferior. (Read more)

DEAL FLOW

• Astellas reaches agreement to acquire Iveric Bio for $5.9 billion (Read more)

• Magenta Medical raises $55M for world’s smallest heart pump (Read more)

• Sanofi In-Licenses Pompe disease therapy from privately held Maze Therapeutics for $150M upfront (Read more)

• Remember Lucira Health's 30-minute home test kit? Pfizer just bought the bankrupt company via a winning auction bid (Read more)

• Abbott completes acquisition of Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. (Read more)

• Centene to divest AI platform Apixio (Read more)

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