Will AI redefine health care in 2019? Plus, CrossFit courts physicians and family leave for residents is lacking

At this time last year, CVS Health had just announced it would acquire Aetna. The Apple personal health record was still a secret, and no one had any idea Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and J.P. Morgan were cooking up.

That said, let’s make a few predictions for the health care industry in 2019. What topics, trends or issues will we see more of? And what will fade away? (And can we predict what we’ll get wrong?)

In the annual #BigIdeas2019 list compiled by LinkedIn’s editorial team, we examined a handful of health care issues, including how pharmaceutical companies are doubling down on China and why hospital systems and insurers are investing in social determinants of health.

• Chai Chuah, founder at Health SystemTransformation in New Zealand, predicts that “the ethics of editing genome in human(s) will heat up as part of the race between China and U.S./Europe.”
• “My big prediction is that seniors will be talking to robots and AI more than their own children in 2019,” wrote Margaret Bailey, associate vice president at CannonDesign.
• “More focus will be on aging and telehealth,” said Anil Kumar, founder of RxHomeTest.com.

Is 2019 the year of artificial intelligence in health care? Will the steady clip of billion-dollar M&A carry on? What about hints that a recession is coming? How will that affect a health care industry in transformation? Share your thoughts in the comments.

News I’m Watching

1. CrossFit is turning to doctors to expand its reach. The high-intensity workout launched CrossFit Health, which is training U.S. doctors, potentially with the goal of encouraging them to prescribe CrossFit to their patients or open up affiliate gyms, according to Vox. Roughly 20,000 U.S. doctors regularly go to CrossFit. “We are finding the Western medical model isn’t providing us with the tools to help people. Most physicians don’t see we’re doing anything to improve people’s health,” one doctor told the news site.

2. Trainee doctors don’t get the family leave recommended for patients. A new study found that eight of the 15 hospitals affiliated with the top 12 medical schools offer physicians in training an average of 6.6 weeks of paid leave, according to Reuters. That’s nearly half the 12 weeks recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Faculty doctors get slightly more time, at an average of 8.6 weeks.

3. Hospital beds as a source of data? That's what Hill-Rom, a maker of hospital beds, is trying to do with a new model that uses sensors to track heart and respiratory rates, according to The Wall Street Journal. Nurses will be alerted if necessary. Hill-Rom has not yet released the price of the new bed.

What’s your take on this week’s stories? What will be the big health care stories in 2019? Will health care turn to fitness partnerships to improve patient health? Should hospitals step up benefits for their workers? Share your thoughts in the comments, using #TheCheckup.