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AI Adoption Index, Questioning CMMI, and GLP-1 Breakthroughs
April 24, 2025
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Together with
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“My follow up prediction: within 3 years, all patients will first see an ‘AI doctor’ before a human doctor in outpatient settings.”
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Stanford University Clinical AI Research Lead Dr. Ethan Goh
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Bessemer Venture Partners’ market reports are always some of the best in the business, but its recent Healthcare AI Adoption Index might just be its finest work yet.
The Healthcare AI Adoption Index is based on survey data from 400+ execs across Payors, Providers, and Pharma – breaking down how buyers are approaching GenAI applications, what jobs-to-be-done they’re prioritizing, and where their projects sit on the adoption curve.
Here’s a look at what they found:
- AI is high on the agenda across the board, with AI budgets outpacing IT spend in each of the three segments. Over half (54%) are seeing ROI within the first 12 months.
- Only a third of AI pilots end up reaching production, held back by everything from security and data readiness to integration costs and limited in-house expertise.
- Despite all the trendsetters we cover on a weekly basis, only 15% of active AI projects are being driven by startups. The rest are being built internally or led by the usual suspects like major EHRs and Big Tech.
- That said, 48% of executives say they prefer working with startups over incumbents, and Bessemer encourages founders to co-develop solutions with their customers and lean in on partnerships that provide access to distribution, proprietary datasets, and credibility.
The highlight of the report was Bessemer’s analysis of the 59 jobs-to-be-done as potential use cases for AI.
- Of the 22 jobs-to-be-done for Payors (claims, network, member, pricing), 19 jobs for Pharma (preclinical, clinical, marketing, sales), and 18 jobs for Providers (care delivery, RCM) – 45% are still in the ideation or proof of concept phase.
- Providers are ahead in POC experimentation, while most Payor and Pharma use cases remain in the ideation phase. Here’s a beautiful look at where different use cases stand.
Bessemer topped off its analysis with the debut of its AI Dx Index, which factors in market size, urgency, and current adoption to help startups map and prioritize AI use cases. One of the best graphics so far this year.
The Takeaway
Healthcare’s AI-powered paradigm shift is kicking into overdrive, and Bessemer just delivered one of the most comprehensive views of where the puck is going that we’ve seen to date.
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Leading Global Cancer Center Chooses Abridge
During a rigorous pilot study, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center clinicians in several oncological specialties – including hematology, head and neck surgery, and neurology – found that Abridge accurately captured the complexity of oncology terminology, including disease names, treatment names, and drug names. Abridge will be scaled across the organization in 2025 and 2026. Learn more.
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How Navina Empowers Privia Health Physicians to Excel in VBC
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- Nourish Cooks Up $70M: Nourish raised $70M in Series B funding to bring AI enhancements to its virtual nutrition counseling platform as tariff-induced price increases on groceries spur demand for accessible food-as-medicine options. Since launching in 2021, Nourish has built out the largest network of Registered Dietitians in the country (it now employs over 3,000 W-2 RDs), who deliver insurance-covered care for every major nutrition-related condition to hundreds of thousands of patients across all 50 states.
- Hinge + Cigna: Hinge Health inked a massive partnership with Cigna Healthcare as it continues to weigh the timing of its upcoming IPO. The collaboration gives Cigna’s employer clients streamlined access to the virtual MSK care platform (real-time exercise guidance, a wearable pain relief device, support from physical therapists), making Hinge the preferred MSK partner for the five largest national health plans by covered lives. No word yet on whether Hinge is pumping the brakes on what would be the first major digital health IPO since 2021.
- Lilly’s Oral GLP-1 Success: The hottest drug class in the world is only getting hotter after Eli Lilly reported positive topline results from the Phase 3 trial for its oral GLP-1 orforglipron in patients with T2D and obesity. The trial randomized 559 participants to receive either orforglipron or placebo and found that the drug lowered A1C by an average of 1.3% to 1.6% across doses. At the highest 32mg dose, orforglipron reduced total body weight by an average of 16lbs (7.9%) over 40 weeks, and was as safe as injectable GLP-1s.
- SmarterDx Growth Round: SmarterDx is embarking on its “next phase of growth” after securing a strategic investment from New Mountain Capital. The fresh financing will bolster SmarterDx’s clinical AI platform that helps hospitals analyze discharges to ensure each patient’s care is accurately captured and prevent gaps in revenue integrity. The company’s SmarterPrebill solution enables clinical documentation integrity and coding teams to validate every detail of patient care, while SmarterDenials gives them a more efficient way to overturn denials and recover lost revenue.
- Therabot Will See You Now: NEJM AI published impressive results from the Therabot AI therapy chatbot following a randomized controlled trial involving 210 adults with symptoms of depression, anxiety, or eating disorders. Therabot produced a whopping 6-point reduction in PHQ-9 score over just four weeks, with the improvements found to be durable for an additional four weeks post-treatment. Participants also seemed to enjoy using Therabot, spending an average of six hours engaging with the chatbot while sending an average of 260 messages during the course of the study.
- Longevity is a Superpower: Preventative health startup Superpower landed $30M to bring personalized health recommendations to the masses. Superpower joins the quickly growing ranks of D2C longevity startups expanding access to biomarker-based medical advice, offering biannual lab testing ($499) that analyzes 100+ blood biomarkers across 21 categories like hormone health, longevity, immune regulation, and inflammation.
- Rising Medical Misinformation: Medical misinformation is on the rise as the U.S. measles outbreak continues to escalate. KFF data shows that nearly two-thirds of adults have heard at least one untrue statement about the outbreak in the past year, with 61% of parents reporting that they’ve seen the unproven link between autism and the measles vaccine positioned as a scientifically proven fact. That said, 83% of the public remains “very” or “somewhat confident” that the vaccine is safe (although 17% of Republican parents are apparently “not at all confident” on the matter).
- Why Scion Doesn’t Have a CAIO: ScionHealth CIO Robecca Quammen gave Becker’s a candid look at the logic behind the health system’s decision to avoid creating a new role just for AI. Despite the growing buzz around Chief AI Officers, Quammen views AI governance as an extension of what CIOs already do – vetting tech for fit, evaluating security, and ensuring HIPAA compliance. Scion’s collaborative governance process was designed to ensure diverse perspectives are brought to the table and decisions aren’t overly centralized.
- Questioning CMMI Models: An Avalere Health report reached the headline-grabbing conclusion that only a third of CMMI alternative payment / care delivery models have yielded substantial savings after a decade of implementation. Worse yet, the analysis of 18 CMMI models found that six generated substantial net losses for Medicare, while the remaining third had a “nominal financial impact.” State and community-based approaches were found to be far more successful at reducing expenditures than health plan-based models.
- Cancer Incidence Continues Decline: The steady drop in cancer death rates continued in the most recent NCI annual report, mostly thanks to smoking declines, but obesity-related cancers are still on the rise. The overall cancer death rate from 2018 to 2022 fell -1.7% per year for men and -1.3% for women, while cancer incidence from 2003 to 2023 fell -1.6 to -2.2% per year for men but rose 0.3% annually for women. Cancer incidence bounced back from 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted screening.
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The First 30 Days: What to Expect With AI
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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.
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- Meet Nabla at Becker’s Annual Meeting: Looking for both ambient note generation and dictation – in one AI assistant? Nabla is the only AI assistant that does both, seamlessly. Visit booth 10F at Becker’s Annual Meeting to see it in action and discover how Nabla is changing the way care teams work.
- Transforming Remote Blood Pressure Monitoring: BPM Pro 2 integrates effortlessly into health programs, streamlines care delivery, and boosts patient adherence and engagement. Discover a better experience for your patients and care teams.
- Future-Proof Your Health System with Scalable Primary Care: The reality of modern health system primary care: more patients, fewer resources, constant pressure to deliver. K Health offers a strategic advantage, with a clinical AI and Virtualist care model that provides the scalable solution you need to meet patient demand anytime, anywhere. Join the ranks of forward-thinking systems like Cedars-Sinai, Hackensack Meridian Health, and Hartford HealthCare. Explore the future of primary care with K Health.
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