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Insight Spotlight: The next-generation Oracle Health EHR, which incorporates AI across the entire clinical workflow, will be available to early adopters in calendar year 2025.

Innovator's Radar: Healthcare AI companies focused on automation and clinical workflow efficiency continue to attract significant investment - with recent funding rounds ranging from $3M to $70M.

Decoding Digital Health: The HLTH 2024 conference revealed a healthcare industry shifting from AI hype to practical implementation challenges, while also highlighting growing focus areas in women's health, scrutiny of healthcare middlemen, and emerging interest in psychedelic medicine.

Hot Topics: CMS's finalized 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule implements a controversial 2.9% payment cut while introducing new policies for primary care and telehealth, prompting urgent calls from medical groups for Congressional intervention and permanent payment reform.

Data Dive: A comprehensive analysis of Medicare claims data from 2019-2022 debunks concerns about telehealth increasing wasteful healthcare practices, showing that higher telehealth adoption in primary care practices was associated with stable or decreased rates of unnecessary services.

Oracle Health announced its next-generation EHR system, built on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, marking a significant shift from the Cerner Millennium architecture following Oracle's acquisition of Cerner in 2022.

• The new EHR will embed AI across clinical workflows to automate processes and deliver insights at the point of care
• Key features include conversational search, voice-driven navigation, and AI-supported chart summaries
• The system integrates Oracle Health Data Intelligence, combining patient data from thousands of sources
• Platform improvements focus on: payer-provider interoperability, clinical trial patient recruitment, regulatory compliance, financial performance optimization, value-based care adoption
• Early adopter program will begin in 2025

Why it matters:

Oracle's complete reinvention of their EHR system represents a significant shift in healthcare technology infrastructure, addressing longstanding issues with legacy systems built in the 1990s. By incorporating AI and modern cloud capabilities, this update aims to solve complex security requirements and clinical needs of today's healthcare networks. The success of this modernization effort could set new standards for EHR usability and efficiency, potentially transforming how healthcare providers interact with patient data and manage clinical workflows.

Here is the latest roundup of digital health financing rounds:

• Hello Patient picks up $6.3M seed funding for AI phone agents to do the work of traditional support staff, freeing them up for more valuable, patient-facing work.
• Dyania Health pockets $10M to automate patient chart review with AI.
• AI patient communication company Parakeet Health picked up $3 million in seed funding, led by Canvas Ventures, and inked multiple new provider deals.
• Suki, a voice-assistive AI and medical scribe tool, secured $70 million in funding to build out its AI assistant technology for doctors and hospitals.

The HLTH 2024 conference in Las Vegas highlighted key trends in healthcare innovation, with artificial intelligence dominating discussions while practical implementation challenges take center stage.

Key trends observed:

• AI conversations shifting from hype to practical challenges and self-regulation
• Focus on "unsexy" infrastructure work needed for AI implementation
• Industry middlemen (particularly PBMs) under scrutiny for healthcare costs
• Women's health gaining attention with $110M federal funding announcement
• Growing interest in psychedelic medicine, especially for veterans

Notable AI developments:

• Emphasis on AI assistants and medical scribes in exhibit hall
• Microsoft and other tech giants showcasing AI offerings
• Coalition for Health AI unveiled first applied model card
• Need for extensive testing and trusted partnerships emphasized

Infrastructure challenges:

• Data accessibility and quality remain major hurdles
• Interoperability advances driven by AI adoption
• Focus on compliance, security, and data labelling
• TEFCA regulations pushing forward data exchange

Why it matters:

The conference reveals a maturing healthcare innovation landscape where excitement about AI is being tempered by practical implementation challenges. The industry's focus on infrastructure, data quality, and regulatory compliance suggests a more measured approach to technology adoption. Meanwhile, increased attention to women's health and alternative therapies indicates potential new areas for investment and development, though questions remain about whether interest will translate into meaningful funding and action.

CMS has finalized its 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rule, implementing a 2.9% payment cut despite strong opposition from healthcare providers, while introducing new policies for primary care, telehealth, and value-based care.

Key payment changes:

• 2.83% reduction in conversion factor to $32.35
• Practice costs expected to increase by 3.5% in 2025
• Medicare reimbursement has decreased 29% since 2001 after inflation adjustment

Major policy updates:

• New advanced primary care management services coding and payment
• Permanent coverage for audio-only telehealth services
• Enhanced Medicare Shared Savings Program with advance payments for successful ACOs
• Extended telehealth flexibilities for direct supervision

Industry response:

• Provider groups calling for immediate Congressional intervention
• Bipartisan support with 233 Congress members requesting legislative fix
• New House bill introduced to block cuts and provide inflationary updates

Why it matters:

The continued decline in Medicare physician payments, coupled with rising practice costs, threatens the financial viability of medical practices and patient access to care, particularly in rural and underserved areas. While the rule includes positive changes for primary care and telehealth, the healthcare industry argues that without comprehensive payment reform and Congressional intervention, the sustainability of physician practices and the future of American healthcare could be at risk.

A new study published in JAMA Network Open addresses lawmakers' concerns about telehealth potentially increasing wasteful healthcare practices. Researchers found that increased telehealth usage did not lead to more unnecessary tests or procedures in primary care settings.

Key findings:

• 6 out of 8 low-value services studied either decreased or remained stable
• Some services like cancer screenings decreased across all practice groups
• Medium and high-telehealth clinics showed faster decreases in certain services

Policy implications:

• Results counter concerns about telehealth encouraging wasteful healthcare practices
• Current telehealth flexibilities will expire end of year without Congressional action
• Bipartisan legislation proposed to extend flexibilities by two years

Why it matters:

These findings are significant for ongoing healthcare policy decisions as Congress debates extending pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities. The study counters concerns that expanded telehealth access leads to wasteful spending or unnecessary services, with data suggesting that practices with higher telehealth adoption may be more efficient. Without congressional action to extend current flexibilities beyond 2024, providers and patients could lose valuable telehealth options that have proven both efficient and effective, highlighting the importance of establishing permanent telehealth policies based on this evidence.

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