3 Pivotal Ways to Accelerate Tech and Innovation Change

Accelerating innovation and harnessing the power of data and technology always are easier said than done in health care. To help jumpstart progress in finding solutions, health IT leaders, startups and well-established health care companies recently met in Nashville at the ViVE Conference. Here’s what caught our attention.

1 | Generative AI’s Future Is Here

No topic seemed to produce more enthusiasm and trepidation than advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI). When Microsoft announced in January the third phase of its long-term relationship with OpenAI, it was seen as a move that would accelerate AI breakthroughs that could be shared broadly in areas like:

• Supercomputing at scale. This would speed OpenAI’s independent research.
• New AI-powered experiences. This would generate new categories of digital experiences built on OpenAI’s models across consumer and enterprise products.
• Cloud solutions. As Open AI’s exclusive cloud provider, Microsoft’s Azure will power OpenAI’s workloads across research, products and application programming interface services.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT is an AI language model that enables users to enter written prompts and get humanlike text or images and videos generated by AI. In the short time ChatGPT has been available, it has been labeled transformative in how it could be applied in health care to assist in clinical notetaking, and developing more accurate and reliable symptom checkers, etc. But health care leaders must be wary of unintended consequences associated with the technology if there isn’t careful analysis and review.

Takeaway

Employ due diligence. It’s important to recognize and explore the potential of generative AI, but equal attention needs to be paid to security issues and inappropriate use of algorithms that perpetuate health inequities and quality issues, IT experts warned. This technology uses algorithms similar to those of other forms of AI that are based on rules and learning your organization creates. Your outputs will only be as good as your algorithms and teaching models.

2 | Think Big on Solving Cancer

Together, health care organizations and digital health technology developers have the potential to improve the trajectory of treating diseases. So, it was noteworthy to see Moffitt Cancer Center team with the nonprofit Digital Medicine Society (DiME) on a new partnership to speed cancer innovation.

The CancerX initative initially will address health inequity in cancer care and will recruit industry stakeholders to participate in a national effort. The public-private partnership is part of the Biden administration’s reignited Cancer Moonshot initiative. The effort aims to reduce the cancer death rate by at least half over the next 25 years and improve the experience of people who are living with cancer and their families.

Takeaway

Reimagine care from the ground up. Digital innovation generally lags behind in cancer when compared to other therapeutic areas, noted Jennifer Goldsack, DiME CEO. The CancerX initiative will require commitments from established organizations and startups alike. The field needs to reimagine how all people with cancer are cared for, Goldsack told Fierce Healthcare.

3 | Work with Partners to Solve Workforce Challenges

The global health care workforce shortage has hit the U.S. hard. It’s a complex problem that will require multifaceted solutions. Amazon Web Services (AWS) and some key partners in the field are working to address this through tech partnerships with startup companies. AWS announced 23 startups selected to participate in its Healthcare Accelerator. These startups offer solutions in three core health care workforce areas: retention, deployment and training. AWS will help the startups advance their digital health solutions and accelerate their growth using the cloud.

Fourteen leaders from across the health care ecosystem will provide guidance to the startups, including the AHA, Humana, Intermountain Ventures, Mass General Brigham and Deloitte.

Takeaway

Engage with innovators. Solving the workforce crisis in health care must be a priority for all in the field, noted Chris DeRienzo, M.D., senior vice president and chief physician executive for the AHA. Technology can improve care processes, allowing both caregivers and support team members to devote more time to improving patient outcomes.