Will AI improve healthcare or just make it more expensive?
Plus: Irish tunes for St. Patrick's day
Good morning and happy St. Patrick’s Day. This is the Friday Pulse Check from Fulcrum Strategies and www.FLATLINING.net.
In the news:
More pharma giants cut insulin prices
French pharmaceutical company Sanofi (SNY 0.00%↑), one of the top three insulin manufacturers in the United States, announced this week that it would be cutting the price of its version of the diabetic medication. Sanofi’s decision to cut the price of its product and cap out-of-pocket costs is another in a series of decisions by other pharmaceutical companies in recent weeks to do the same. Novo Nordisk (NVO 0.00%↑) announced on Tuesday that they would also cap costs. For both of these companies, the caps and cuts go into effect on 1 January 2024. Read more from NewsNation.
HIPAA violation of the week: Beacon Health
This week Beacon Health System, a hospital system based in South Bend, Indiana with locations in that state and Michigan, announced that an employee accessed protected health information outside of the scope of his or her job. The access took place between 19 November 2018 and 20 February 2023. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 3117 patients were affected by access. Read more from Beacon Health System.
For context:
HHS Office for Civil Rights investigates HIPAA violations. There are currently 846 open investigations into HIPAA violations ranging from computer hacking to unauthorized access to improper disposal of documents. Of those, 146 are investigations into situations similar to the case at Beacon Health System.
Will AI improve healthcare or just make it more expensive?
Several weeks ago, I wrote about OpenAI’s ChatGPT which passed several exams required to be a licensed physician in the United States. Some (like me) are excited to see where the new technology can take us and how it can make our lives easier, similar to technological advancements such as the internet or the invention of the iPhone. One physician seems certain that artificial intelligence will definitely improve the quality of care. Benjamin Mazer, MD, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University, wrote in the Boston Globe this week that doctors that use AI will have more time to spend with patients and be able to provide them lab results and diagnostic information with much more detail and explanation. The cost, he says, providers will bill a lot more possibly driving the costs of healthcare up higher. Read more in the Boston Globe. 🔒
Other articles of interest:
Opinion: Hawaii is paradise, so why is there a physician shortage? - RealClear Policy
US maternal mortality hit six-decade high in 2020; COVID-19 to blame - CBS News
Shortage of Pluvicto for advanced prostate cancer - The Wall Street Journal
Are nurses quiet quitters? - Becker’s Hospital Review
Opinion: Comparing Biden’s and GOP’s plans on Social Security and Medicare - RealClear Policy
The FLATLINING Podcast
North Carolina is on the brink of expanding Medicaid (being one of the last states to do so) and reforming its certificate of need laws. That was the main topic of discussion on this week’s episode of the FLATLINING Podcast.
Reforming CoN means that there could be an explosion of imaging centers and ASCs in the next several years, but only in the more urban areas. Part of the compromise North Carolina’s large hospital systems made was to allow CoN to go away in counties with populations larger than 125,000.
This means that communities like the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill), the Triad (Winston-Salem, High Point, and Greensboro), and the metro Charlotte areas could have imaging centers on every corner, similar to the way it is in Florida.
On the one hand, for free market economists, this is good; in theory, it will force more competition. But as Ron discussed on our podcast, it could also lead to decrease in quality and safety as the insurance companies incentivize patients to go to imaging centers that may not be using the latest technology or have physicians that are subspecialized.
So who can build an ASC and run an MRI machine and when? Ron and I discuss it on the FLATLINING Podcast. Check it out now wherever you listen to podcasts. Conveniently, there are links below.
Subscribe to the FLATLINING Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the iHeartRadio app, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Pandora, TuneIn, and Audible.
Ukraine
Russian hackers have reportedly hacked India’s Ministry of Health website over that country’s alleged support for Ukraine in the ongoing war in eastern Europe. The Indian Health Ministry has asked their country’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to look into the incident. India has called for peace but has stopped short of condemning Russia’s actions in the conflict. Read more from the Hindustan Times.
Final Thought
Today is St. Patrick’s day and though I might be able to claim some Irish heritage, I was not one of the proud New Yorkers featured on a live shot in a bar on national TV this morning. But, for our Final Thought this week, I thought we’d take a break from healthcare for a moment and enjoy some Irish tunes. Enjoy.
Have a good weekend,
Matthew