In today’s edition, important questions about the rapid adoption of health technology. Who is responsible, how is it tested, and who benefits?
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Has Medicare Telehealth Coverage Helped Mental Health Providers Treat More Rural Patients?
A new analysis of Medicare claims from 2018 to 2023 shows that mental health providers who most enthusiastically embraced telehealth are not seeing significantly more patients in rural and underserved areas. The findings suggest that while telehealth has seen significant adoption in Medicare as government insurers have expanded coverage during the pandemic, it is not helping to reach places with the greatest need.
While the study doesn’t get into specifics, it implies that clinicians who are already in high demand locally are more likely to serve people in their communities, said Atif Mehrotra, a professor at Brown University’s School of Public Health. Policies that may help include increasing broadband access and facilitating interstate licensing for providers.
The study adds to a growing body of literature suggesting that the boom in virtual mental health care has disproportionate benefits. Considerable Survey analysis Data released last year found that in 2021, “individuals with higher incomes, who were employed, and who had a college education used teletherapy at significantly higher rates than their peers.”
The possibility of using technology to expand access to mental health in rural communities has been theorized and explored for decades. Doing so is another matter. Back in 2021, I wrote about a successful effort by big city psychiatrists and psychologists for remote federally qualified health centers to support primary care providers in treating patients with PTSD and bipolar disorder. At the heart of this story was the complexity of coordinating such a setting. It takes more than transmission lines and insurance coverage to access underserved areas.
The shadowy medical group behind the GLP-1 telehealth operation
The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on companies that market GLP-1 obesity and diabetes drugs with misleading claims. Regulators have warned more than 70 companies since last year. A new analysis by Katie Palmer suggests that at least 30% of these companies are affiliated with just four medical groups nationwide.
These “white-label” medical practices are essential to the growth of telehealth businesses that make it easier for people to obtain low-cost GLP-1 drugs. But as the FDA cracks down on how compounded drugs are marketed, the business may find itself under the microscope as well. Katie’s story highlights how the arrangements work with white-label medical groups, including interviews with operators who say they try to vet the telehealth brands they work with.
Read more here.
AI agent attack
At HIMSS, Epic, Oracle, Amazon, Microsoft, and many other companies announced new AI agents, or software tools, that autonomously complete healthcare tasks including medical coding, documentation, chart review, scheduling, and more.
But as Casey Ross reports, this rush of new agents comes amid growing concern that automation is being adopted in health care before the technology is validated and without sufficient patient data. He looks at two recent studies exploring the topic.
Read more here.
Collecting health technology news
- Omada posted its first profitable quarter. I met with CEO Sean Duffy last week about the company’s strategy around GLP-1s and AI. Read more here.
- A new preprint details the results of a real-world study of 100 participants of AMIE, a diagnostic chatbot Google has been developing for several years. In the study, patients spoke with AMIE before their urgent care appointment with a human clinic. I did not have the opportunity to fully process the results, but a high-level finding appeared: a diagnosis recommended by AMIE was included in the final diagnosis for the patient in 90% of cases. Google is currently conducting a randomized study with its experimental clinical AI Health is included.
- AI companiona developer of patient-facing clinical AI agents, led an $11 million Series A round madrona with participation from Optum Ventures.
- Samsung It announced that it was working with an intervention company all right People’s health records are readily available on Samsung smartphones.
- I don’t know if this is a real problem, but I thought it was interesting: Kodoxoa company that uses tech to help payers identify potential fraud, announced “Deep Fraud Detection” to “identify AI-generated or manipulated medical documents and diagnostic images submitted in support of claims before payment.” Kodoxo recently raised a $35 million lead CVS Health Companies.
- Sword Health started as a company focused on virtual physical therapy but has been working for several years to build a company that treats a range of conditions. To that end, the company unveiled two new products this week: Dawn, a direct-to-consumer AI mental health app, and Plus, an AI-powered cardiometabolic care offering, including GLP-1 drug support.
- EHR vendor Meditech Added surround listening capabilities to these mobile apps used by clinicians.
- Video conferencing service Zoom has added healthcare-focused features including better integration Epic.
- Revenue Management Inc R1 AI Scribe has a new contract with the company Heidi’s health “Capturing the scope and complexity of what physicians do and ensuring that providers get the full value of the care they provide.”
What we read
- New nonprofit launches with at least $500 million to modernize scientific process for AI era, STAT
- Technology is changing sleep apnea treatment, Wired
- Iranian hacktivist hits medical device maker Stryker in ‘brutal’ attack that knocks out systems, zero-day
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