This week, AI applications continue to permeate healthcare, with fresh exploit cases and implementations of all shapes and sizes. AI is streamlining documentation in Federally Qualified Health Centers, helping expand access to effective mental health services, and ensuring unthreatening digital transformation by design, to name just three.
FHQC, CHC using voice AI
Utah Navajo Health System, CenterPlace Health, Access Health Louisiana and PrimeCare Health are easing the burden of clinical and operational documentation by introducing note-taking, coding, dictation and more, according to a Thursday announcement from Suki, an AI voice assistant for healthcare.
The company reported that across more than 250 U.S. healthcare facilities and clinics, the average reduction in paperwork was 72% and pajama-wearing time was reduced by nearly six hours.
“Suki is a game-changer for my personal mental health,” said Dr. Leslie McNaughtan, a family medicine specialist at UNHS Utah, a designated Community Health Center that provides medical, dental and behavioral health care to the Navajo Nation and southeastern Utah, in a statement provided by the vendor.
Suki added that the solution could deliver a ninefold return on investment within a year and represents a significant advantage for resource-constrained Federally Qualified Health Centers and CHCs.
McNaughtan said she has complex patients who are often overdue for appointments, which affects her workflow and often forces her to focus on the nearest computer terminal instead of her patients.
“Suki has relieved me of administrative responsibilities to the point where I feel I can continue practicing medicine,” she said.
Last month, Suki also announced that its self-updating ambient sound documentation software, which integrates with a range of electronic health records including Epic, Oracle Cerner, athenahealth, Meditech and others, can now implemented via API by pasting code.
NLP for mental health
Mpathic, a provider of conversation analytics software that it says can improve behavior in healthcare, announced today that it has received a National Institutes of Health Diminutive Business Innovation Research Grant to test artificial intelligence and natural language processing to analyze transcripts of patient and physician visits using Wave’s AI model.
The company said in a July 11 statement that by using artificial intelligence and natural language processing to analyze Wave’s conversational data from 300 half-hour health counseling sessions, it could improve cultural congruence in doctor-patient interactions.
According to mpathic a summary of the projectMarginalized communities are less likely to seek treatment, less likely to find or access high-quality care, and less likely to complete treatment.
As part of the project, “Empathy for Everyone: Generative AI that Improves Cultural Alignment Between Patients and Doctors in Real Time,” the Bellevue, Washington-based company said it plans to exploit AI to:
- Facilitating cultural matching between mental health providers and patients.
- Closing disparities in access to mental health care for underserved racial and ethnic groups.
- Improving treatment outcomes and patient satisfaction.
“Our collaboration with mpathic on this project is not just about technological innovation; it is a step towards true access to mental health care that acknowledges and adapts to the diversity of human culture,” said Dr. Sarah Adler, founder and CEO of Wave. announcement of grant award.
“It’s about creating tools that will allow us to see each patient more fully and meet them where they are, with respect, humility and understanding.”
According to the NIH website, mpathic will receive $219,212 in funding from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct the research.
Safety certificates by design
TruCare, a value-based care platform for payers, providers, and public health organizations that leverages generative AI in population health management tools, announced July 9 that it has achieved 2-year HITRUST Risk-Based certification. The company also achieved SOC 2 compliance.
Last week, 1upHealth announced that its native data aggregation platform Rapid Health Interoperability Resources has received a one-year HITRUST certification validation for data protection management and cybersecurity risk mitigation.
While the cloud can leverage open standards-based data formats and technologies, “this is often hampered by an unstable environment where there is intense merger and acquisition activity,” noted Pieter De Leenheer, chief technology officer at blog post about HIMSS24.
To defend against the flood of cybersecurity threats from healthcare, federal agencies and healthcare data security consultants are urging unprepared service providers to strengthen the security of their IT infrastructure and ensure that their business partners are meeting appropriate standards.
“1upHealth’s HITRUST i1 certification demonstrates that the company is at the forefront of industry best practices for information risk management and cybersecurity,” Jeremy Huval, chief innovation officer at HITRUST, said in a July 11 statement.
Also symplr, which offers enterprise software for healthcare and is cooperation with Amazon Web Services to develop machine learning capabilities, announced that it has achieved SOC 2 certification for 29 of its products, confirming that they meet HIPAA requirements for security and privacy risks.
“While we recognize the inherent risks, we take proactive steps to strengthen our security protocols and continually improve them,” Saeed Valian, Symplr’s chief information security officer, said in a July 11 statement.
The company also announced that its CEO, BJ Schaknowski, has signed the Department of Homeland Security’s Secure by Design initiative under the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
“Our Secure by Design commitment, SOC 2 attestations and HITRUST recertification for symplr solutions underscore our commitment to preventing and protecting against future threats by protecting sensitive data, recognizing that healthcare systems cannot afford to be disrupted,” Valian added.
The HIMSS AI in Healthcare Forum will be held September 5-6 in Boston. Learn more and sign up.