Some medical technologies that use artificial intelligence might benefit patients but result in a drop in health system revenues. This could make widespread adoption of AI in medicine a tough sell.
Healthcare is a world of perverse incentives. One person’s waste is another person’s annual bonus. If you have shares in Novo Nordisk, you don’t really want people to eat more fruits and vegetables, because then sales of diabetes meds might drop. The same is true on a larger scale for hospital systems that get paid to conduct tests and perform surgeries instead of keeping people healthy.
It doesn’t pay—yet—to keep people healthy. Many entrepreneurs and government leaders are dragging the American healthcare system away from the fee-for-service model, but the road to pay for performance medical care is long and winding.
HeartFlow is the perfect example of how a positive change for patients could mean a drop in health system revenues. The company’s goal is to improve care for heart disease by avoiding both under- and over-treatment. HeartFlow takes data from a CT scan and turns it into a 3D model of the veins and arteries that supply blood to the heart.
“If our system is adopted, the net annual savings would be $2 billion for one commercial payer,” said John Stevens, MD and president of HeartFlow. “We could avoid 250,000 unnecessary procedures and even save 30,000 lives.” Stevens shared these shocking numbers at HLTH 2018 in early May in Las Vegas.
Image Credit: From article
News This Week
Stem cell organoids repair heart microvessels in coronary artery disease models
A Stanford University team has shown that vascular organoids derived from human stem cells can repair the heart’s microvessel network in pigs with ischaemic heart disease – a proof-of-concept advancement that could open new therapeutic [...]
Goodbye GP waiting rooms, hello prevention at home
Prevention is suddenly everywhere in NHS reform. The recent £340m community pharmacy deal is moving more services onto the high street. Community Diagnostic Centres are being expanded, and the Neighbourhood Health Framework sets out [...]
Ebola control is weakened by mistrust and cultural insensitivity
Effective response depends on cooperation with communities and frontline workers, writes Zaeem ul Haq The current Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda is exposing dangerous gaps in [...]
Building the Brain Requires Millions of Dangerous DNA Breaks
Scientists discovered that building a healthy brain involves an unexpected step: young neurons routinely break and rapidly repair their own DNA. As the brain develops, newly formed nerve cells must travel through tightly packed tissue [...]
One Tiny Change May Explain How Viruses Jump From Bats to Humans
Scientists found that one tiny genetic change may determine whether a bat virus stays in bats or becomes a human threat. Most infectious disease outbreaks begin when a virus or other pathogen crosses from animals into [...]
Scientists Discover 250+ Genes That Could Lead to New Ways To Prevent Melanoma
The world’s largest study of mole genetics identified hundreds of genes tied to melanoma risk, uncovering potential new drug targets and paving the way for more accurate melanoma screening and prevention. Researchers at QIMR [...]
Breakthrough Diabetes Treatment Reprograms the Immune System
An engineered stem cell therapy reversed new-onset Type 1 diabetes in mice by shifting the immune system away from attacking insulin-producing cells. For more than a century, people with Type 1 diabetes have relied [...]
Taking the world’s temperature: WHO chief spotlights global health emergencies
Taking the world’s temperature on pressing health matters, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus provided the latest on current global challenges - and successes when it comes to international cooperation. “The outbreaks of hantavirus, Ebola and Marburg all show [...]
Leave A Comment