Within healthcare, where innovation is often spoken about but rarely fully realized at scale, those needs are crucial to transforming — and standardizing — the way care and research are delivered and experienced.

“There is so much disparity between one geography to another in the way healthcare is delivered,” Dr. Mert Aral, chief medical officer at Huma, told PYMNTS’ CEO Karen Webster.

But if technology can revolutionize navigation through globally accessible tools like Google Maps, which offers the same high-quality experience regardless of location, why can’t it do the same for healthcare?

That’s the pressing question Huma was founded to answer in 2011, Aral explained, and he noted that the main challenge facing the field is that, because healthcare and life sciences are two sectors deeply entrenched in traditional practices, their transformation requires a significant shift in incumbent mindset.

The ongoing landscape realities mean that, despite the clear benefits, adoption has been hampered by the complexity and fragmentation of existing systems. The integration of digital tools and technologies can often be slow, hampered by a lack of interoperability, insufficient data and the entrenched reluctance of clinical teams and researchers to adopt new systems.

Aral likened the situation to trying to rebuild a house from scratch while still living in it. The core infrastructure needed for digitalization at scale is still largely absent, making the widespread adoption of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) a formidable task. In the U.S., for example, he noted that the adoption of electronic medical records required significant government intervention.

Transforming Care Delivery and Research

But that doesn’t mean the transformative potential of digital health technologies is impossible. Rather, broad adoption, while slow and challenging, is shaping up to be almost inevitable.

“We are trying to accelerate the adoption of digitalization within healthcare,” Aral said. “The reality of the situation is that 99% of your time is outside of the four walls of the hospital — how can we bridge that gap to get better visibility on patients, to know how they’re responding to treatments in real time? How can we intervene earlier? How can we be more proactive and see the right patient at the right time, rather than waiting for them to deteriorate?”

That’s why, over the past decade, Huma has focused on building a foundational layer of technological infrastructure designed to support a range of digital health solutions, from population health screening to remote patient monitoring and digital clinical trials.

Aral noted that Huma’s platform has been implemented in over 3,000 hospitals, with millions of active patients benefiting from its solutions. Demonstrating improved outcomes, increased capacity and new revenue streams for providers is what helps drive adoption, he said.

One of the more significant milestones for Huma was the launch of the Huma Cloud platform. This platform, which took years and significant resources to develop, aims to enable other stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem to build on Huma’s foundation, thereby accelerating the development and deployment of digital health solutions.

“In order for this to have true impact, we need much bigger scale than what we can achieve on our own as a company,” said Aral, emphasizing that all stakeholders, including patients, providers, payers, pharmaceutical companies and governments, must see tangible benefits.

Read more: Huma Gets $80 Million to Build ‘Shopify for Digital Health’

By offering a disease-agnostic platform approved by the FDA, Huma enables health systems to build and deploy a wide range of health solutions using the same foundational technology. This flexibility and scalability are critical for addressing diverse healthcare needs and expanding the reach of digital health solutions.

Aral said he envisions a future where Huma’s platform powers a global network of healthcare applications, continuously improving through the integration of new diagnostic tools and data-driven insights. This vision aligns with the broader trend toward personalized, proactive healthcare, where technology empowers patients and providers alike.

A prime example of Huma’s innovative approach is their asthma disease management solution in the U.S., developed in collaboration with AstraZeneca. The challenge was clear: how to identify patients who could benefit from advanced treatments more quickly and efficiently. Traditionally, this process is slow, as it relies on sporadic doctor visits and snapshot data.

Aral explained that Huma’s solution leverages continuous remote monitoring, using spirometry devices, wearables and an intuitive app to gather real-time data on patients’ conditions. This approach, he said has significantly reduced the time to treatment optimization, benefitting patients, providers and pharmaceutical companies.

Patients receive timely interventions and personalized care, providers gain a new revenue stream through reimbursement codes for remote patient monitoring, and pharmaceutical companies can more effectively reach patients who need their treatments.

By addressing systemic challenges and building a robust technological foundation, it is possible to pave the way for a new era of healthcare delivery and research.

The post Huma’s 13-Year Journey to Creating a Global Healthcare Network appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

The partnership between GE and Amazon’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) division, announced Thursday (July 25), comes as AI continues to make inroads into the health sector.

In this case, GE HealthCare will use AWS as its cloud provider, with plans to use the company’s healthcare and generative AI services to increase diagnostic and screening accuracy, improve outcomes, provide greater access and equitable care, the company said in a news release.

GE will use Amazon Bedrock, a managed service that provides secure access to the industry’s leading foundation models, to create and deploy “bespoke generative AI applications,” the release said.

The company will also use Bedrock to build its own generative AI applications for healthcare to enhance efficiency and care, GE added.

“With AWS, GE HealthCare plans to use the cloud to deliver more personalized, intelligent and efficient care,” said Matt Garman, CEO of AWS. “GE HealthCare is putting generative AI at the heart of their innovation, accelerated by the investments we have made in healthcare-specific cloud services and generative AI capabilities that provide best-in-class security, data privacy and access to the latest state-of-the-art foundation models.”

The partnership is happening at a moment when AI is making waves in the medical world, with new studies showing the technology’s promise in predicting eye treatment complications, analyzing heart MRIs and developing RNA-based drugs.

“While specialized healthcare AI models demonstrate potential, research also cautions against relying on general-purpose AI chatbots for clinical decision-making, highlighting the need for tailored solutions in critical medical applications,” PYMNTS wrote recently.

The eye treatment study was conducted by researchers from Emory University and Cleveland Clinic, who developed a machine-learning model that examines eye scans to find patients at risk of inflammatory responses to common treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

The AI model, which analyzed optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans, showed accuracy rates of up to 81% in spotting patients likely to develop a certain post-treatment complication.

Meanwhile, a study by healthcare AI firm Atropos found that popular chatbots like ChatGPT falter in clinical decision-making. Atropos tested five large language models and found they provided relevant information only 2% to 10% of the time.

The post Amazon Launches AI Collaboration With GE HealthCare appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

And it doesn’t appear to be stopping any time soon.

That’s why PYMNTS sat down with Steve Sterling, Managing Director for the Americas at Holoconnects, to unpack the applications of 3D hologram displays, particularly within healthcare.

After all, Sterling’s own journey from encountering an early prototype of a hologram display to pioneering its application in hospitals encapsulates the profound potential of this technology to enhance patient care and operational efficiency.

“I had seen what holograms did with people in entertainment — the ‘wow’ factor,” Sterling said, noting that hologram-centric efforts have already borne fruit in the hospitality industry, with installations in 30 hotels across Scandinavia.

These hologram check-in devices, he explained, greet guests with lifelike, pre-recorded avatars, offering maps, customer service and more, all while enhancing guest engagement. Notably, hotel managers observed that younger guests preferred these automated systems over human interaction, highlighting a generational shift towards digital interfaces.

But this application of 3D experiences within hospitality sparked the realization that hologram technology could be harnessed for broader applications beyond mere amusement.

Leveraging Hologram Displays in Hospitality and Healthcare

That’s because the true transformative potential of 3D hologram displays, according to Sterling, lies in healthcare.

A recent collaboration Holoconnects undertook with Crescent Regional Hospital in Lancaster, Texas, illustrates this vividly. A hologram display installed at the hospital connects patients with doctors at a specialty care clinic 30 miles away, facilitating non-touch wellness visits. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, with patients expressing a sense of engagement akin to an in-person visit.

The success of these hologram displays in healthcare stems from their ability to foster genuine engagement. Sterling emphasized that engagement is a feeling, not just a technology.

“The patient really has a sense of engagement,” he said. “We’re offering engagement, and we are offering access.”

Unlike traditional telehealth, where patients interact with a doctor via a computer screen, hologram displays provide a full-size, high-resolution image of the doctor, creating a more lifelike and reassuring experience. This is particularly valuable for non-touch visits, such as post-operative check-ins or wellness consultations.

Doctors, too, benefit from this technology. They save time and effort by avoiding unnecessary travel for routine visits, allowing them to see more patients and operate in a more relaxed environment. This not only enhances their efficiency but also improves the quality of patient interactions.

“A doctor at the local hospital can begin to access every range of specialists and the best in their field in this way,” Sterling added, noting this could revolutionize healthcare delivery in areas with limited medical resources, improving patient outcomes and reducing costs.

The Future of Virtual Health Rests on Applications That Go Beyond Novelty

While telehealth experienced a significant boost during the pandemic, Sterling acknowledged the challenges it currently faces, particularly regarding payment and insurance coverage. The current healthcare system’s complexity often hinders the adoption of new technologies. However, he remains optimistic that as the benefits of hologram displays become more apparent, the necessary billing processes will evolve to accommodate them.

Moreover, the integration of medical diagnostic devices with hologram displays, for which Sterling holds a pending patent, promises to further enhance their utility.

And Sterling’s vision extends to pharmacies and public spaces, where hologram displays could serve as initial points of contact for patients seeking medical advice. This could alleviate the burden on healthcare facilities and provide timely interventions, potentially preventing minor health issues from escalating into major problems.

“The feeling patients have about their journey of recovery is a very important element to the success of their recovery,” he said.

Ultimately, the success of 3D hologram displays in healthcare hinges on their ability to enhance the patient experience. Sterling drew a parallel with the hospitality industry’s focus on guest experience, noting that patient satisfaction and engagement significantly impact recovery outcomes. By providing a more engaging and reassuring interaction with healthcare providers, hologram displays can contribute to better patient experiences and, consequently, better health outcomes.

As healthcare continues to evolve, innovations like 3D hologram displays represent a promising frontier. In a future where these technologies become more integrated into healthcare systems, they hold the potential to transform the way we deliver and experience medical care, making high-quality healthcare more accessible, efficient and engaging.

The post Here’s Why the Next Doctor Visit Could Be With a Hologram appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

Challenges arose from distributor adjustments in the contact lens market, leading to destocking. J&J officials expressed confidence in a swift recovery fueled by its innovation pipeline. This focus on innovative solutions propelled a resurgence in the orthopedics business.

While acknowledging inflation’s impact, the company remains committed to achieving solid growth for the full year. A strategic move further bolstered MedTech’s position: The acquisition of Shockwave Medical. This deal strengthens J&J’s presence in the high-growth cardiovascular intervention market. Shockwave’s minimally invasive IVL technology broadens J&J’s cardiovascular treatment portfolio, offering patients additional options.

During a Wednesday (July 17) call with analysts to discuss its second-quarter financial results, Joaquin Duato, chairman and CEO of J&J, said he believes MedTech growth will be more in the 5%-6% range during the second half of the year. “I’m energized as we look to the rest of 2024. We’re entering the second half of the year from a position of strength and we’re continuing to bring innovation to the patients we serve.”

Looking ahead, Duato exuded optimism due to a robust pipeline, upcoming regulatory approvals for key products, and continued rollout of recently launched offerings that provide a solid foundation for growth. Further solidifying its commitment to robotics, J&J plans to submit its Ottava surgical robot for FDA approval later this year, with future expansion into spine surgery on the horizon.

“With a robust pipeline, upcoming regulatory milestones for Rybrevant and Tremfya, the integration of Shockwave, and continued expansion of newly launched products, including Acuvue Oasys Max 1-Day contact lenses and our Varipulse platform, we have a strong foundation for near and long-term growth,” he said.

J&J’s Velys robotic system is gaining traction, with a recent FDA clearance for unicompartmental knee replacements and a strong overall procedure environment, suggesting a surge in the global orthopedic market. “We’re bringing robotics to other parts of orthopedics,” Duato said. “It’s all innovation-driven and we expect it to continue.”

MedTech sales grew 2.2% in the second quarter, reaching $8 billion, and overall revenue rose 4.3%, to $22.4 billion. MedTech sales were driven primarily by electrophysiology products and Abiomed in Cardiovascular, previously referred to as Interventional Solutions, and wound closure products in General Surgery.

Innovative Medicine sales increased to $14.49 billion, up 5.5%. Growth was driven by Darzalex (daratumumab), Erleada (apalutamide), Tremfya (guselkumab), Stelara (ustekinumab), and Spravato (esketamine).

Stelara sales rose 3.1%, to $2.89 billion while Darzalex sales rose 18.4%. to $2.88 billion. The company’s cancer cell therapy, Carvykti, generated sales of $186 million, up a whopping 60% year over year.

The post J&J MedTech Navigates Headwinds, Eyes Growth Surge in Second Half of 2024 appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

The platform, announced Tuesday (July 16), is designed to bolster the company’s digital health initiatives while also letting others launch and scale their own products.

“With its Huma Cloud Platform and the regulatory foundation that it is built on, Huma aims to reduce the time it takes to develop and launch digital health projects at scale from years to as little as a few days,” the company said in a news release.

The Series D round brings Huma’s total financing to $300 million. A report by Bloomberg News noted that the company is now valued at close to $1 billion.

Dan Vahdat, the company’s founder and CEO, said in the news release that Huma hopes to speed the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) across care and research.

“We like to think of Huma Cloud Platform much like Shopify but for digital health instead of eCommerce,” he said. “We believe when digital and AI are scaled, they become affordable for both the poor and the rich. This will help us transition medicine from being reactive to proactive.”

Huma’s funding comes as the healthcare world continues to debate AI’s place in their field, as PYMNTS wrote earlier this year.

For example, experts say that health chatbots could have a major impact on the sector, but their varying levels of accuracy raise important questions about their potential to bolster or undermine patient care.

“Like other AI-powered tools, medical chatbots are more likely to provide highly accurate answers when thoroughly trained on high-quality, diverse data sets and when user prompts are clear and simple,” Julie McGuire, managing director of the BDO Center for Healthcare Excellence & Innovation, told PYMNTS.

 “However, when questions are more complicated or unusual, a medical chatbot may provide insufficient or incorrect answers. In some cases, a generative AI-powered medical chatbot could make up a study to justify a medical answer it wants to give.”

In a separate interview, Dr. Michael Gao, co-founder and CEO of SmarterDx, told PYMNTS that clinical AI could help hospitals improve revenue integrity and quality.

By using AI, he said, hospitals can “make sure that their receipts are accurate, that they have everything they should have and they don’t have anything they shouldn’t have.”

He added that AI solutions are able to take the data around clinical care and compare it to financial data to make sure that hospitals “achieve 100% accuracy on 100% of charts.”

The post Huma Gets $80 Million to Build ‘Shopify for Digital Health’ appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

The MTA will launch a one-stop platform called Better by MTA that will not only help arrange medical treatments but also use Mastercard’s commercial virtual card technology to facilitate fast and secure cross-border payments, the organizations said in a Wednesday (July 10) press release emailed to PYMNTS. 

“For nearly two decades, we have played a critical role in providing affordable, transparent and high-quality healthcare by connecting patients with an extensive network of trusted, accredited providers worldwide,” Jonathan Edelheit, chairman and co-founder of the MTA, said in the release. “Developing a single interface with integrated Mastercard payment capabilities and services is a critical step in our mission to make quality healthcare secure and accessible across borders.”

The medical tourism industry has largely relied on cash and wire transfers, which has left patients with concerns about hidden costs, exchange rate complexities and fraud risk, according to the release.

With the platform enabled by the partnership of the MTA and Mastercard, patients will be able to book treatments and use a payment method of their choice, the release said.

The MTA will handle the rest, with its banking partner issuing a Mastercard virtual card to pay the healthcare provider directly once the patient’s payment is initiated and validated, per the release.

This collaboration is the latest example of Mastercard’s efforts to solve pain points across industries and simplify the way money flows, Chad Wallace, global head of commercial solutions at Mastercard, said in the release.

“We’re embedding our technologies to drive safer and faster payment experiences at scale, and this latest collaboration unlocks our ability to further extend the advantages of Mastercard virtual cards to reimagine the healthcare ecosystem,” Wallace said.

The use of virtual cards within B2B healthcare is one of the more promising solutions to challenges in the healthcare industry, Wallace told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster in an interview posted in January.

“By using virtual cards, we’ve been able to speed up the payment process overall between insurance companies and medical providers,” Wallace said.

The post Mastercard to Facilitate Cross-Border Payments for Medical Tourism Association appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

“Women spend on average 8% less time on their healthcare each month than men, which negatively impacts their health outcomes,” Synchrony Health and Wellness CEO Beto Casellas told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster.

Women, especially single mothers, face various challenges when it comes to accessing and affording necessary health and wellness care. They often prioritize their families’ needs over their own, primarily due to the same time and financial constraints.

These issues were among the findings of a new study by PYMNTS Intelligence and Synchrony’s CareCredit, which examined the economic factors that impact women’s health. The “2024 Women’s Wellness Index” drew on a survey of 10,045 U.S. consumers conducted from Nov. 10 to Dec. 6.

“Responsibilities, particularly for single mothers, in terms of where they spend their time and money, lead to lower overall health indices,” Casellas said.

Financial constraints are a barrier to women prioritizing their healthcare. What may seem like a small amount to higher earners can represent a heavy burden for many working mothers.

Casellas emphasized the need for better financial solutions and payment options that empower women to better manage their health. By embracing strategies like providing flexible payment options, enhancing financial literacy, promoting wellness and using technology, the healthcare industry can better enable women to prioritize their health and well-being, ultimately leading to better health outcomes for themselves and their families.

“There is not a one-size, cookie-cutter approach in terms of solving for this,” Casellas said. “There is a lot of complexity around the ecosystem.”

Women’s Health and Wellness: Addressing Barriers and Solutions

A barrier to accessing healthcare is the lack of financial literacy among patients. Casellas emphasized the need for providers to educate patients about healthcare costs and payment options. He advocated for transparent and open discussions about healthcare expenses and available financial assistance programs.

“Financial literacy is not just a phenomenon in healthcare; it’s a broader issue,” Casellas said. “Providing assistance programs, health savings plans and flexible spending accounts are critical steps in bridging this gap. Providers should be equipped to have these conversations early and clearly to help patients understand their options.”

Financial literacy can also help women better use the options available to them to get the care they need.

“Providing options like promotional financing over six or 12 months, which enables people to split their payments over time, can help women manage their healthcare expenses better,” Casellas said. “This approach not only alleviates the immediate financial burden but also encourages women to seek timely medical care, preventing conditions from worsening.”

Read more: Women’s Life Stage Priorities in Health and Wellness

Time constraints are another hurdle for women in accessing healthcare. The unpredictability of medical appointments, long waiting times and the time required for diagnoses and treatment can deter women from seeking medical care and discourage them from visiting healthcare providers. This lack of time can be particularly exacerbated for mothers.

Seventy-one percent of moms get preventive medical care, and around one-quarter do not seek care at all for themselves, while 78% of mothers prioritize their household’s health over their own well-being.

Casellas acknowledged this issue and pointed out the broader systemic problems, including staffing shortages exacerbated by the pandemic. He suggested that third-party financing could play a role in mitigating these challenges by streamlining administrative processes, thus allowing healthcare providers to focus more on patient care.

Using Healthcare Innovations and Embracing Preventive Solutions

PYMNTS Intelligence found that every additional $500 spent on women’s health results in a positive effect on their overall well-being. Higher income brackets correlate with better health attentiveness, highlighting the role of financial stability in accessing healthcare services — particularly around wellness and preventive care.

“Consumers are more proactive and knowledgeable about what they can do holistically around their wellness and how it reduces long-term care costs,” said Casellas.

“Preventive care helps identify and address health issues early, reducing the prevalence of chronic conditions,” he added. “Younger generations are increasingly proactive about their health, which is promising. Integrating wellness practices like nutrition, mental health care and regular checkups can significantly improve overall health.”

There is increasingly a role for technology, including artificial intelligence, to play in democratizing access to care — with low-hanging fruit being its capacity to streamline administrative processes, reduce staffing challenges and improve patient care.

“Digital technology, analytics and AI are crucial in supporting healthcare providers and improving patient experiences,” Casellas said. “These tools can help manage time better, provide more information to patients and streamline processes, ultimately enhancing overall healthcare delivery.”

Looking to the future, where novel treatments like GLP-1 drugs are reframing consumers’ relationships with their own health goals, Casellas emphasized the importance of “consulting healthcare providers and discussing payment plans.”

After all, in health as in life, knowing what you are getting into and the options you have on hand to support you will always be crucial.

To learn more, read the PYMNTS Intelligence/CareCredit “2024 Women’s Health Index.”

The post Trending: Financial Solutions Bridge Gap Between Women’s Health and Wealth appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

But that’s not to say that the innovation doesn’t hold extraordinary potential beyond its mastery of the mundane.

Within healthcare, AI’s ability to ingest vast amounts of data and analyze it instantaneously could help usher in a new era of medical innovation and patient care — particularly when applied to historically intractable problems and diseases, such as cancer.

“When it comes to generative AI, a lot of the applications people have been focusing on is around alleviating the administrative burden of healthcare, the processing, the payments, the bookkeeping and the transcription of clinical notes,” Othman Laraki, co-founder and chief executive of Color Health, told PYMNTS’ CEO Karen Webster.

But, as Laraki explained, what his company is after is something entirely different.

“As opposed to automating what people think of as lower-scale labor to save costs, we partnered with OpenAI to focus on areas where you need a lot of medical expertise and depth, but where that expertise is very scarce and that scarcity comes at a high cost, like cancer,” he said. “We decided, instead of going broad, to go very deep in places where we felt there’d be a very big leverage.”

The result?

A new way of accelerating cancer patients’ access to treatment that uses the capabilities of GPT-4o to help doctors transform cancer care.

Enhancing Clinician Expertise With AI

Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the United States and the leading driver of American healthcare costs.

That’s why, Laraki explained, Color Health’s collaboration with OpenAI aims to address two critical areas: risk-adjusted screening and pre-treatment workup. The collaboration focuses on leveraging AI to enhance the expertise and efficiency of clinicians rather than merely automating administrative tasks surrounding their work.

One of the most impactful uses of AI in oncology is improving risk-adjusted screening. Many individuals with high-risk factors, such as genetics, family history or lifestyle choices like smoking, do not receive appropriate screening. As Laraki noted, AI can bridge this gap by ensuring that established risk-adjusted guidelines are applied more consistently and accurately.

“The majority of people who should be getting risk-adjusted screening guidelines don’t today,” he said, adding that early diagnosis is crucial in cancer treatment and can significantly improve survival rates and reduce treatment costs.

By using AI to identify and monitor high-risk individuals, healthcare providers can detect cancers at an earlier, more treatable stage.

But diagnosis is just the start of the healthcare journey, and the period between cancer diagnosis and the initiation of treatment is often fraught with delays, causing unnecessary anxiety and potentially affecting patient outcomes.

“One of the things that blocks being able to initiate treatment, especially as treatments are getting more and more complex, is the workup that happens so that your oncologist can initiate treatment,” Laraki said.

He explained that AI can streamline this process by expediting the pre-treatment workup. By the time a patient meets their oncologist, AI can ensure that all necessary tests and preparations are completed, allowing treatment to commence promptly. This not only improves patient survival rates but also optimizes healthcare resources.

AI and Healthcare: A Revolutionary Partnership

The application of AI in cancer screening and diagnosis represents a significant leap forward in oncology, but it is an evolution — not a pull-the-rug transformation.

That’s because, as Laraki emphasized, integrating AI into healthcare is not about replacing clinicians but augmenting their capabilities. AI can process vast amounts of patient data, extract relevant information, and apply complex guidelines with precision. This allows clinicians to make more informed decisions quickly. AI models are able to act as co-pilots, providing clinicians with comprehensive analyses and recommendations while leaving the final decisions in human hands.

“It is about leveraging AI tooling to amplify the existing expertise today that is very scarce,” Laraki said. “It is always the clinician who is the driver here.”

Still, the integration of AI into cancer care is not just a technological advancement but also a cultural shift. Historically, cancer has been perceived as an unavoidable, costly burden. However, there is a growing recognition that proactive measures, driven by AI and other technologies, can significantly impact outcomes.

“There’s no silver bullet. It is such a vast surface area that it is about providing an integrated set of solutions that cover the different places relevant to cancer,” Laraki explained about AI’s applications across oncology.

He added that many issues, rather than being “science problems,” are actually “immediacy and logistics and integration” problems.

From ensuring follow-ups on positive screenings to coordinating care across multiple specialists, AI can play a pivotal role in streamlining these logistical problems.

For example, Laraki highlighted that the gap in follow-up care for colorectal cancer screening, where a significant percentage of positive cases do not receive timely follow-ups, can be addressed through AI-driven systems that track and remind patients and healthcare providers of necessary actions.

AI can also facilitate better coordination among healthcare providers, reducing delays and improving the overall patient experience. By integrating various stages of cancer care, from education and screening to diagnosis and treatment, AI can help create a more cohesive and efficient healthcare system.

The post Exclusive: Color CEO Says AI-for-Oncology Copilots Detect and Treat Cancer Earlier appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

In what is becoming a pattern in healthcare, on Tuesday (July 2), Oregon Health & Science University cut a telehealth nursing unit set up in March 2020 that was once featured on its website for its service to people across the state.

It is a microcosm of changes in how consumers access healthcare in the post-pandemic connected economy, as telehealth trends down and AI and other virtual technologies take its place alongside a comeback in in-person doctor visits.

“I think the simplest way to say what we’re seeing right now is we’re observing the shriveling of telehealth 1.0,” Robin Glass, president of virtual care and health navigation company Included Health told Fierce Healthcare.

“This original model that I think came out that was really premised on this highly transactional interaction between a patient and the clinician that didn’t have any elements of longitudinal care or treating that individual as a holistic person, I think we’re starting to see the end of the road for that model. It has not served the patient as well as it needs to,” Glass added. “I think it also doesn’t reflect the modern experience that consumers are getting used to in all facets of their life. And ultimately, it doesn’t deliver on the kind of value that purchasers need out of their healthcare dollar.”

This kind of sentiment has manifested itself in the marketplace, although not everyone would agree with Glass.

Telehealth as a business model has definitely taken a step back. Amazon’s pay-per-visit telehealth service and its One Medical program are now a single brand after it announced on Thursday (June 27) that it will be renamed Amazon One Medical Pay-per-visit.

While it didn’t specifically single out a decline in telehealth visits as the driving factor, Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services, indicated that “impersonal care” made it difficult for patients to make the service profitable.

Similar reasons were given when Walmart shuttered its telehealth venture on April 30.

However, showing that not everyone has bailed on the business model and its future, Walmart sold the division to healthcare technology startup Fabric.

Fabric, which emerged from stealth in early 2023 after rebranding from Florence, has developed technology that automates clinical and administrative tasks in healthcare. The acquisition will greatly enhance Fabric’s presence in the employer market. Walmart’s MeMD division had been delivering virtual care services to 30,000 employers and 5 million employees, including large employers, brokers, third-party administrators and distributors.

Fabric offers a telemedicine platform for health systems, employers and payers, featuring a suite of products designed to streamline workflows for both in-person and virtual patient visits. These products range from patient intake to self-scheduling and provider documentation tools, leveraging conversational AI to enhance both provider and patient experiences while boosting operational efficiency, according to company executives.

Technology solutions like the ones Fabric is developing will most likely define the future of telehealth as it embraces AI and even virtual reality. Fabric has been described as a “care enablement system (that) uses AI-powered clinical intelligence and automation to triage and route patients to the most appropriate point of care based on time of day, availability, distance and disposition while streamlining treatment across virtual and in-person workflows.” That hybrid approach has room for consumer choice and technology innovation.

One of those innovations that is expected to gain traction is holograms. Crescent Regional Hospital, located near Dallas, has introduced an innovative technology called the “Holobox,” a 3D system projecting a life-sized hologram of a doctor for real-time consultations. Developed by Dutch firm Holoconnects, this 86-inch-tall device requires only electricity and an internet connection.

The Holobox features anti-glare glass, a transparent LCD screen, hi-fi speakers and a multi-touch operating system. It can display pre-recorded or live video of doctors, enhancing patient engagement.

In an interview with a local Dallas TV station, Steve Sterling, Holoconnects’ North American managing director, emphasized the system’s capability to revolutionize patient-doctor interactions by providing real-time access to specialists, saving valuable time for doctors.

Crescent Regional is the first U.S. hospital to adopt this technology, with plans to expand its use in rural and underserved areas. Holoconnects aims to deploy smaller, portable versions to broaden its impact.

The post Telehealth Declines as AI and In-Person Visits Rise Post-Pandemic appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “The Digital Platform Promise: How Patients Want to Streamline Healthcare Payments” found that 21% of consumers encountered at least some difficulty when paying for their healthcare. The research also showed that 16% said insurance covered less than expected.

Certain demographics may be particularly vulnerable if the range of payment options, including cards and payment plans, is winnowed down. Per PYMNTS Intelligence’s 2024 Women’s Wellness Index, 23% of women who struggle to pay monthly expenses said medical bills are a key reason for distress.

One-quarter of women see financial constraints as a challenge to managing their personal health and well-being, and mothers spend 26% less on their own health than their partners. Given that the average unplanned medical expense in the United States — which is consistent regardless of consumer spending — is $1,310, solutions that spread out healthcare payments over time could better accommodate their paycheck-to-paycheck budgets.

The CFPB’s renewed scrutiny on medical debt, cards and alternative payments comes as 46% of patients cancel their healthcare appointments due to high costs, per the PYMNTS Intelligence “The Embedded Finance Tracker®.” The tracker found that embedded finance has been gaining traction with providers and patients. Roughly a quarter of healthcare firms were mulling embedded finance offerings at the time of the survey, and 11% of millennials had already been using those plans to help triage both expected and unexpected bills, along with 13% of paycheck-to-paycheck consumers with issues paying their bills doing the same.

The CFPB’s Take

The CFPB said Tuesday (July 2) that its examiners reviewed medical payment products, including medical credit cards. It noted that these financial options are marketed to consumers at healthcare facilities, including doctors’ offices or hospitals, to pay for medical services or products.

“Healthcare providers commonly use sales and marketing materials provided by the financial institutions issuing these payment products,” said the CFPB. Examiners have “identified a significant number of consumer complaints” tied to the representations of deferred interest and how providers have promoted, offered and sold medical credit cards to patients.

As to what comes next: “CFPB examiners will continue to assess financial services companies’ oversight of medical providers and will be monitoring marketing materials and incentives offered to enroll patients,” the bureau said.

The door may be opening for new rules governing how, when and even whether healthcare providers and financial institutions can market these (and other) payment options to their patients.

(Recent) Past as Prologue

There’s some prologue here. In recent months, and with the constitutionality of the bureau itself assured, the CFPB has been taking steps to reshape the ways healthcare is paid for and how these payments and products are documented and used in credit reporting.

New rules that seek to remove medical debt from credit reports and cap card late fees are proving popular with the general public. Erasing medical debt, in this case, from credit reports may disincentivize patients from making timely payments, with negative impacts on providers. Providers could stop offering financing options, including payment plans, to patients.

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