?? Latest Breakthroughs in HealthTech

In this edition of HealthTech Zen, we bring you all the latest news, trends and breakthroughs in HealthTech, along with featured interviews with leaders from the industry.

This issue is sponsored by Arkenea, a custom healthcare software development company with 14+ years of developing HIPAA compliant applications for HealthTech businesses.

DEEP DIVE

Sealing Referral Leak Through Tech

Healthcare referrals are?a?complex?process because they?require coordination from the provider, patient, recommended hospital or clinic, and diagnostic centers.

Referral management software streamlines and enhances the referral flow, thereby assuring that the patients receive coordinated care on time while minimizing referral leak for hospitals and medical practitioners.

Here are key features to include when developing referral management software

1. Appointment scheduling
2. Centralized referral tracking
3. Integration with other healthcare software
4. Automated reminders
5. Insurance eligibility checks
6. Secure messaging
7. Peer assessments

Read the in-depth guide to developing a referral management software that reduces referral leak, minimizes lead times, enhances care coordination and increases the levels of patient satisfaction here.

PULSE POINTS

Latest Breakthroughs This Week

Here’s the most important breakthroughs and advancements we spotted in the healthcare technology space this week.

• Drone Delivery: Mayo Clinic plans to deliver medications and supplies to hospital-at-home patients using Zipline’s electric, autonomous drones to drop off items from the hospital to a patient's home. The delivery will likely start with basic supplies such as bandages, bottles and tubes, before moving on to items that require more regulatory approval, including lab work and medications.
• AI Validation Suite: Epic Systems has developed the AI Trust and Assurance Suite to assist healthcare organizations in testing and monitoring AI models. This software automates data collection and mapping, providing near real-time metrics and analysis, which ensures consistency and reduces the need for data scientists to perform manual data mapping. Epic also plans to release the suite’s monitoring templates and data schemas as open-source software, allowing organizations to monitor both custom-built and third-party AI models.
• Patient Check-ins: In a bid to speed up patient check-ins, Wellstar Health System and CLEAR, the security identity company known for allowing members to bypass ID checks at airports, have co-developed a new application that allows patients to use CLEAR for registration and on-site check-in.
• Neuralink: The FDA has given Elon Musk's Neuralink the green light to implant its brain chip into a second person. The company has proposed fixes to the issues in the first Neuralink implant, including implanting the device threads 8 millimeters into the brains' motor cortex, compared to the 3-to-5 millimeters implanted into the first patient.
• Stats: 62% of Americans hold a favorable opinion of the Affordable Care Act, while 37% view it unfavorably. Support for the law has increased slightly over the past six months; in February, 59% of respondents approved of the ACA, while 39% disapproved.
• Policy: The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health advanced the Telehealth Modernization Act, a legislation that would extend telehealth flexibilities for two years and the hospital-at-home program for five. The law would do away with geographic originating site rules for telehealth through 2026 and extend the CMS waiver for hospitals to provide acute care at home through 2029.

EXPERT SPOTLIGHT

Ed Collins: Startup “Jam Sessions” Key To Innovation

This week, HealthTech Zen got in touch with Ed Collins, a digital healthcare innovator, technology strategist and fractional technology executive with over 25 years of experience in the industry.

How do you see the role of technology evolving in patient care over the next decade?

Healthcare has always been a pull system. The patients go to the care versus the care being brought to them. What if we could complete visits virtually?

A wireless connected kit could be deployed to the patient’s home that could capture blood pressure, temperature, weight, vitals, etc. A mobile phlebotomist could come to the patient’s home to draw blood for testing. I think the future of care delivery will be more push than pull making it more convenient for patients because of technology. This shift is already happening today.

How do you foster a culture of innovation within your technology teams?

Working in large organizations for most of my career I learned quickly that those same organizations are sometimes hard places to innovate.

Start-ups are great at innovation because they are not hindered by years of organizational evolution. I hold regular “jam sessions” with startups where we just toss around ideas. We limit them to one hour and anything is on the table.? It’s a great way to dream big without limitation and a way to identify barriers quickly.

What role does/will artificial intelligence play in your current and future projects?

Currently, I’m seeing AI used mostly for process automation. I’m working with organizations that are looking for ways to use AI to eliminate waste and to become more efficient. That efficiency may be gained by freeing up clinician time to focus on care delivery, or from inefficient process automation surrounding coding and billing, or improving access to care and scheduling, or patient communication.

I am also working on the game changer ideas as well. Expediting new treatment approval through better clinical trial management.? Using clinical data to predict patient outcomes. Consolidating quality and outcomes data to allow patients to make better informed decisions about where to seek care, building massive data sets to train models, and more!

Continue reading here.

DECODER

What Is Healthcare Application Design?

Healthcare application design involves creating software tailored to the needs of patients and healthcare providers, ensuring usability, security, and regulatory compliance.

This process includes user-centered design, seamless integration with other systems, and continuous improvement based on user feedback. The goal is to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and accessibility of healthcare services.

Read about 3 major steps of healthcare application design process here.