5 Key Healthcare Issues Pending In Congress 'New Rules' That Could Change How You Get Healthcare

In this Gallup poll from late 2018 and in almost every other national research poll on the concerns of American voters healthcare ranks as the No. 1 issue. Of course, healthcare is a complex, multifaceted issue, and voter concerns include the cost, quality, and availability of care as well as the availability of insurance and coverage of pre-existing conditions. The issue was recently given even higher visibility by President Trump’s executive order of June 24 mandating improved pricing disclosure in healthcare.
This heightened interest has been spawned in large part by the fact that, for more and more Americans, healthcare has become increasingly inaccessible. This compromised accessibility is largely attributable to high costs that even the insured, many now in high deductible health plans (HDHPs), struggle to afford. Whether or not one subscribes to the notion that healthcare should be a right, this issue is at the top of voters minds and on the agendas of the policy-makers who represent them. The objective: a U.S. healthcare system that brings care within financial reach for all Americans.

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Health Technology

CareView Launches Software 5.10 for Improved Virtual Care Solutions

CareView Communications | September 13, 2023

CareView Communications, Inc., a prominent provider of integrated virtual care solutions for the healthcare sector, has announced the introduction of its most recent milestone in patient care technology through the unveiling of Software Version 5.10. This release incorporates many cutting-edge features and improvements meticulously crafted to empower healthcare professionals and enhance patient results. Software Release 5.10 introduces a range of significant enhancements, beginning with the seamless integration of CareView with Get Well, a leading patient engagement platform. This integration facilitates bidirectional video communication, ultimately elevating patient engagement, education, and overall satisfaction. Additionally, a new Universal Dashboard has been introduced. This internal tool plays a crucial role in optimizing solutions. It leverages hospital utilization data along with machine learning algorithms to provide predictive analytics and enables in-depth analyses, significantly enhancing the overall offerings. Derek del Carpio, CareView's VP of Product Development, stated, At CareView, we continuously strive to provide innovative solutions that redefine patient care. Software Release 5.10 is a testament to our commitment to advancing virtual care technology and enhancing the well-being of patients. [Source: Business Wire] Further, substantial improvements have been applied to the Virtual Sitting feature, empowering CareView Controllers to manipulate associated views through EquipmentView and introducing Night Mode in SitterView to reduce eye strain, thus enhancing both patient monitoring flexibility and safety. Virtual Nursing has also undergone notable refinements, enabling the virtual Registered Nurse to mute participants during TeleCareView encounters, facilitating participants' easy transition between viewing fellow participants and shared screens, and granting healthcare providers the capability to blur backgrounds in TeleCareView, thereby fostering a more professional and focused virtual interaction environment. CareView maintains a steadfast commitment to fostering collaboration with healthcare providers to elevate patient safety, optimize clinical processes, and enhance overall patient care quality. Introducing this latest software release further underscores CareView's unwavering dedication to providing hospital teams with innovative virtual care solutions to meet their evolving needs. About CareView Communications CareView, leveraging predictive technology and purpose-built hardware, has forged partnerships with more than 200 hospitals to tackle pressing staffing issues and elevate patient safety through its platform. The company collaborates closely with its hospital partners to deliver tailored virtual care strategies that improve patient outcomes and foster a sustainable healthcare ecosystem.

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Health Technology, AI

Emory Healthcare and Andor Health Unite for Virtual AI Healthcare

Andor Health | November 07, 2023

Emory Healthcare has collaborated with Andor Health to mitigate the risks of patient falls and address other safety concerns within the hospital setting while implementing virtual patient observer technology within its healthcare facilities. Andor Health, the creator of ThinkAndor, will employ generative AI technology to access data from various systems, including ambient listening and real-time visualization, to identify common safety risks such as falls and self-harm. In addition, Emory Healthcare will commence a pilot program for the virtual sitter technology in November at two of its hospitals. This program will involve the remote monitoring of at-risk patients on medical and surgical floors, as well as in the emergency departments. Jason Atkins, RN, Vice President and Chief Clinical Informatics Officer for Emory Digital, a part of Emory Healthcare, says. Andor Health's virtual patient observer/virtual sitter technology expands our virtual health initiatives across Emory Healthcare while reducing the burden of nurses and other team members. [Source – Cision PR Newswire] Andor Health's virtual observers collaborate with registered nurses stationed in a control center to employ voice-activated technology to engage in remote conversations with at-risk patients. These interactions involve reminding patients to remain in their beds, prompting them to seek assistance, or offering relevant guidance. Raj Toleti, Chairman and CEO of Andor Health, emphasized that recent technological advancements, such as generative AI-based virtual sitting and ambient monitoring, offer promising opportunities to alleviate operational challenges, mitigate staff shortages, and reduce costs. These innovations enable healthcare systems to concentrate on providing high-quality patient care. Healthcare organizations like Emory Healthcare can efficiently monitor patients and optimize staff effectiveness through large-scale virtual sitting, harnessing the capabilities of virtual hospitals as supplementary support. About Andor Health Andor Health believes in transforming how healthcare teams establish connections and cooperate. Its cloud-based platform, using both machine and human intelligence, accesses information within electronic medical records and provides immediate, actionable insights to healthcare teams, whether they are within or outside the organization. By enhancing communication processes, its solutions expedite the time to treatment, reduce clinician fatigue, and improve patient outcomes. About Emory Healthcare Emory Healthcare is one of the prominent academic health systems in Georgia. At the systemic level, it maintains 2,796 licensed patient beds and hosts a cadre of over 3,450 physicians who practice across over 70 specialized fields. Moreover, it extends its reach by serving a broader population through a collaborative initiative at the St. Francis–Emory Healthcare Hospital in Columbus, ten regional affiliate hospitals, and a closely coordinated network of physicians.

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Health Technology, AI

Aidoc and Mayo Clinic Maximize Patient Care through AI Assistance

Aidoc | October 12, 2023

Aidoc, a pioneer in clinical AI technology, has entered into a collaborative partnership with Mayo Clinic Platform to enhance healthcare by facilitating access to Aidoc's AI technology and platform. Aidoc uses AI to help medical teams in charge of diagnosing, caring for, and treating patients stay in touch with each other. This ensures that essential data is always available to make smart decisions about healthcare interventions and what to do next. Ed Simcox, Vice President of Solutions at Mayo Clinic Platform, confirmed that Aidoc is well-positioned to deal with several common issues with AI-based healthcare solutions, such as the costs of implementing them only once. By eliminating these barriers, healthcare providers of varying scales can readily implement AI, promoting improved patient outcomes and enhancing the overall care experience. Elad Walach, Aidoc's CEO, said, We're excited about Mayo Clinic Platform's vision to transform care at scale. Together we are improving clinical workflows, enhancing patient outcomes and driving the evolution of healthcare through the power of AI. [Source – Cision PR Newswire] Mayo Clinic has integrated Aidoc's innovative AI solutions for clinical decision support since 2020. Its collaboration with Mayo Clinic Platform is expanding access to these advanced tools for a broader range of healthcare providers and patients. Aidoc's offerings encompass 13 FDA-cleared image and partner algorithms, facilitating the prioritization of clinical findings. It also has a built-in risk stratification system, a mobile app for real-time notifications in time-sensitive cases, and seamless integration of EHR data, which makes it easier for people from different departments to talk to each other and coordinate care. Aidoc's aiOS system confronts prevalent issues integrating artificial intelligence within practical healthcare environments. These challenges encompass the management of unstructured data, the efficient utilization of staff resources, the quantification of return on investment, and the resolution of fragmented organizational structures. About Aidoc Aidoc is a pioneering force in clinical AI, focusing on aiding and empowering healthcare teams to optimize patient treatment, resulting in improved economic value and clinical outcomes. Aidoc's proprietary aiOS builds the foundation for analyzing and aggregating medical data, enabling care teams to operationalize the unexpected and work seamlessly with a continued focus on the patient. Used in more than 1,000 medical centers worldwide, Aidoc has the most FDA clearances (13) in clinical AI, and its AI-based solutions cover 75% of patient populations, enabling physicians to make informed decisions based on real-time data.

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Digital Healthcare

ClosedLoop Introduces Data Science Products for Value-Based Healthcare

ClosedLoop | September 20, 2023

ClosedLoop, a prominent healthcare data science platform, has formally introduced two novel data science solutions. These solutions, namely, ACO-Predict and Evaluate, are crafted to assist healthcare organizations in the comprehensive analysis, assessment, ongoing surveillance, and enhancement of their programs, with the objectives of minimizing adverse events, enhancing health outcomes, and curtailing expenditures. ClosedLoop's offering, ACO-Predict, marks the healthcare sector's inaugural no-cost AI-powered solution for population health risk stratification. It harnesses the same algorithms that propelled ClosedLoop to garner fame in the 2021 CMS AI Challenge and earned the Best in KLAS Healthcare AI ranking for 2022 and 2023. When integrated with the updated Beneficiary Claims Data API data feeds from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the product furnishes Medicare Accountable Care Organizations with a turnkey risk stratification tool for Complex Care Management programs, all free of charge. Meanwhile, the company's second product, ClosedLoop Evaluate, is a SaaS solution designed to evaluate and continuously monitor the efficacy of intricate population health initiatives over extended durations. Quantifying the impact and ROI of Population Health programs has presented significant challenges. Organizations often need to resort to imprecise pre- and post-assessments or enlist costly consulting firms for one-off outcome research studies to understand the actual effects of their programs. ClosedLoop’s solutions aim to improve healthcare organizations' outcomes and offer essential patient support. Jennifer Zbell, VP of Clinical Analytics at Healthfirst, stated, ClosedLoop provided the quantitative evidence we needed to increase investment in successful programs." She added, "Evaluate gives us the confidence to examine our programs across the board so we can better see what's working, when it's working, and who it's working for. [Source – Business Wire] ClosedLoop Evaluate represents a pioneering industry solution that not only supplants these studies with software-driven evaluations but also facilitates the ongoing assessment of program impact amid evolving programs and populations. Andrew Eye, Co-Founder and CEO of ClosedLoop concluded that success in value-based care hinges on two key aspects: accurate prediction and effective intervention. ACO-Predict delivers AI-powered prediction capabilities to all medicare patients nationwide at no cost, ensuring access to necessary assistance regardless of location or ACO resources. About ClosedLoop ClosedLoop is a dedicated data science platform tailored to the healthcare sector, simplifying the integration of AI technology to enhance outcomes and curtail expenses. Uniquely designed for the healthcare domain, the company merges an intuitive, all-encompassing ML platform with an extensive repository of healthcare-specific functionalities and model templates. Customers leverage ClosedLoop's Explainable AI capabilities to facilitate clinical excellence, streamline operational processes, navigate value-based contracts, and bolster revenue generation in the healthcare industry.

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