Included Health VP of Clinical Excellence Ankoor Shah, MD

Not many digital health players have more momentum than Included Health, so we sat down with their VP of Clinical Excellence Dr. Ankoor Shah to see what’s in the secret sauce. The key ingredient? Member-centricity, and weaving that ethos into everything from your business model to your product design. Tune into the full conversation here.

Artificial Intelligence

AI Enthusiasm Heats Up With Doctors

The unstoppable march of AI only seems to be gaining momentum, with an American Medical Association survey noting greater enthusiasm – and less apprehension – among physicians. 

The AMA’s Augmented Intelligence Research survey of 1,183 physicians found that those whose enthusiasm outweighs their concerns with health AI rose to 35% in 2024, up from 30% in 2023. 

• The lion’s share of doctors recognize AI’s benefits, with 68% reporting at least some advantage in patient care (up from 63% in 2023).

• In both years, about 40% of doctors were equally excited and concerned about health AI, with almost no change between surveys.

The positive sentiment could be stemming from more physicians using the tech in practice. AI use cases nearly doubled from 38% in 2023 to 66% in 2024.

• The most common uses now include medical research, clinical documentation, and drafting care plans or discharge summaries.

The dramatic drop in non-users (62% to 33%) over the course of a year is impressive for any new health tech, but doctors in the latest survey called out several needs that have to be addressed for adoption to continue.

• 88% wanted a designated feedback channel
• 87% wanted data privacy assurances
• 84% wanted EHR integration

While physicians are still concerned about the potential of AI to harm data privacy or offer incorrect recommendations (and liability risks), they’re also optimistic about its ability to put a dent in burnout.

• The biggest area of opportunity for AI according to 57% of physicians was “addressing administrative burden through automation,” reclaiming the top spot it reached in 2023.

• That said, nearly half of physicians (47%) ranked increased AI oversight as the number one regulatory action needed to increase trust in AI enough to drive further adoption.

The Takeaway

It’s encouraging to see the shifting sentiment around health AI, especially as more doctors embrace its potential to cut down on burnout. Although the survey pinpoints better oversight as the key to maximizing trust, AI innovation is moving so quickly that it wouldn’t be surprising if not-too-distant breakthroughs were magical enough to inspire more confidence on their own.

HIMSS CMIO Roundtable – Ambient AI

Nabla is hosting a CMIO Roundtable at HIMSS – and you’re invited. The panel will dive into how ambient AI adoption has evolved, what clinicians expect next in terms of expanded capabilities and ROI, and its transformative potential in areas like Revenue Cycle Management and Clinical Documentation Improvement. Grab a spot here.

The State of Payer Enrollment & Credentialing

Rising costs, slow automation, and evolving regulations are creating new challenges for credentialing and enrollment. Medallion’s latest report uncovers the biggest trends shaping the future – and how AI and automation are driving change. Don’t fall behind – get the full report now.

The Wire

• Teladoc Claps Back: Teladoc responded to the recent short-seller report that alleged BetterHelp therapists use AI to communicate with patients who think they’re speaking with an actual human. The formal letter refutes allegations that a “meaningful” number of BetterHelp patients are receiving AI therapy from therapists in the form of text/asynchronous and live messages, calling them “vague and unsubstantiated.” Shoutout to Telecare Aware for speaking with Teladoc and sourcing the letter from their legal counsel.

• Epic Adds ID Verification to Showroom: Epic expanded its Showroom marketplace with a new category focused on identity verification within MyChart. Showroom currently counts seven products in Workshop (collaborative development), 26 in Toolbox (products that follow integration best practices) and 789 in Connection Hub (any product with a live connection at an Epic site). The latest addition to Toolbox, Identity Verification for MyChart, aims to simplify patient authentication when creating or recovering MyChart accounts, and CLEAR debuted as the first partner.

• GPT Effective for De-identification: A paper in Nature demonstrated GPT-4’s potential for clinical note de-identification, suggesting that LLMs could soon expand their role in safeguarding patient privacy while increasing access to clinical data for research. The stats to back that up were a little over our head, but GPT-4 was effective at both de-identifying notes and generating synthetic data, achieving a precision of 0.9925, a recall of 0.8318, and an F1 score of 0.8973.

• Camber Closes $30M: Claims automation startup Camber closed $30M in Series B funding to fuel its expansion from behavioral health into home care, long-term care, and substance use disorder treatment. The platform identifies and addresses issues with claims before they lead to an actual denial, and Camber’s been catching on quickly in part due to its policy of only getting compensated for claims that are processed successfully.

• AI Liability Risks: If your company is in the business of equipping providers with AI, you’ve probably had liability concerns stand between you and a new customer. A recent paper in NEJM reviews the most common challenges arising in software-related malpractice litigation to inform provider orgs about the liability risk of AI adoption and provide strategies to mitigate that risk. It’s also a helpful roadmap for companies looking to overcome liability concerns.

• Corti and WK’s Evidence Integration: Corti’s ambient AI platform just landed a major partner, integrating Wolters Kluwer Health flagship UpToDate clinical decision support solution into the Corti Assistant app. The integration gives clinicians evidence-backed answers during and after consultations, aiming to make Corti-based AI documentation more reliable and trustworthy.

• PE Hospital Acquisitions: Less-than-surprising data in Health Affairs shows that private equity firms cut deep after hospital acquisitions. The analysis of Medicare hospital cost reports from 2005 to 2019 compared 242 PE-acquired hospitals to 870 matched controls (not acquired by PE), finding that PE hospitals reduced salary expenditures by 12.9% to 27.3% across most clinical departments (controls increased salaries). Most PE hospitals also saw a simultaneous decline in cumulative charges – despite raising the amount charged per service – implying a reduced volume of services delivered. 

• Verato MDM Cloud Debut: Verato officially unveiled its Verato MDM Cloud master data management solution that delivers a 360-degree view of people, organizations, and networks across complex ecosystems. Verato MDM Cloud solves “the problem that drives everything else, knowing who is who,” by uniquely combining identity resolution and enrichment with advanced insights, verification, and AI-powered data governance.

• Cardiac Teleprehabilitation: According to new research in JACC, teleprehabilitation could help reduce major adverse cardiac events (MACE) before elective cardiac surgery. Among 394 patients, half received an online personalized teleprehabilitation program before surgery, with modules including exercise training, psychological support, nutritional support, and smoking cessation. MACE occurred in 16.8% of the teleprehabilitation group (vs. 25.5% of the control), and the modules also reduced the number of active smokers, pulmonary risk, and depression scores.

• DiMe Pediatric Digital Medicine Playbook: DiMe teamed up with Boston Children’s Hospital to put out its latest Playbook on advancing the use of digital technology in pediatric care. Children make up 23% of the U.S. population but receive less than 10% of total healthcare funding, and the Playbook helps fill the research gap by providing best practices for developing solutions that are optimized for the unique needs of pediatric care. It includes everything from market dynamics and sustainable business opportunities to implementation and scale considerations.

New Abridge AI Infrastructure Powers Clinically Useful and Billable Notes

The new Abridge Contextual Reasoning Engine is a leap forward in AI architecture that enables clinically useful and billable notes at the point of care. Health systems are plagued by incomplete notes that delay billing processes. Generating comprehensive, billable notes that support appropriate claims at the point of care creates administrative efficiencies, reducing costs and freeing doctors to focus more on patient care. Learn more.

Top Systems Scale Primary Care With K Health

Leading health systems are turning to K Health’s AI-driven primary care solution to give their patients access to high-quality care with wait times measured in hours, not months. Find out why K Health is the only clinical AI company partnering with top systems to scale fully integrated primary care experiences.

The Resource Wire

• Simplify RPM & Maximize Patient Engagement: Engaging patients at critical moments is essential for success. With Withings Health Nudges feature, care teams can send tailored messages to the screen of the blood pressure monitor— offering personalized support when they need it most.

• The First 30 Days: What to Expect With AI: Implementing AI documentation tools promises significant benefits, but how do you ensure a smooth transition? Playback Health has you covered with this comprehensive 30-day roadmap outlining what to expect, industry best practices, and its own proven implementation approach.

• Lift MA Plan Performance by Impacting SDoH: Social factors and non-medical issues strongly influence health outcomes, and addressing these contributing determinants of health can not only improve the lives of patients, but also enhance Medicare Advantage plan success. Learn how Clear Arch Health’s remote monitoring services are helping MA plans deliver cost-effective care while enabling more seniors to age independently.

The Industry Wire

1. Thousands of UC healthcare employees go on strike.
2. House budget blueprint could bring Medicaid cuts.
3. State healthcare for noncitizens cost Illinois $1.6B.
4. HIPAA warns of malicious DICOM installers.
5. Trump signs healthcare price transparency order.
6. Mystery illness in DRC kills more than 50 people.
7. Child becomes first measles death in 10 years.
8. FDA declares semaglutide shortage over. 
9. Utah bans fluoride from its tap water.
10. Walgreens ducks $1B COVID test settlement.