Your ‘Friendly’ AI Chatbot May Give You Racist Health Guidance
Some high-profile artificial intelligence chatbots perpetuate false or debunked medical information about Black people, a new study has found, reminding us of the risks of using low-quality data to train the new tech even as other reports show how much promise AI has in some health care settings.
Axios:
Study: Some AI Chatbots Provide Racist Health Info
Some of the most high-profile artificial intelligence chatbots churned out responses that perpetuated false or debunked medical information about Black people, a new study found. As AI takes off, chatbots are already being incorporated into medicine — with little to no oversight. These new tech tools, if fueled by false or inaccurate data, have the potential to worsen health disparities, experts have warned. (Goldman, 10/23)
Stat:
STAT Summit: Doctor V. ChatGPT Showed AI's Promise, Blind Spots
Generative AI tools are already helping doctors transcribe visits and summarize patient records. The technology behind ChatGPT, trained on vast amounts of data from the internet, made headlines when it correctly answered more than 80% of board exam questions. In July, a team at Beth Israel saw promising results when using GPT-4 during a diagnosis workshop for medical residents. (Lawrence, 10/20)
Stat:
FDA Gives Detailed Accounting Of AI-Enabled Medical Devices
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday released a new accounting of artificial intelligence tools cleared for use in health care, adding scores of new products designed to reshape care in several areas of medicine. (Ross and Palmer, 10/20)
In other health care industry developments —
Modern Healthcare:
Providence St. Joseph Workers In Burbank, California, To Strike
Around 700 frontline healthcare workers at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, plan to strike Monday over claims that the system is bargaining in bad faith. The strike is set to run Monday through Friday and will include lab technicians, phlebotomists, patient transporters and other staff represented by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West. (Devereaux, 10/20)
Modern Healthcare:
Resident, Doctor Unions Find New Interest Amid Allina Health Vote
Organized labor is having a moment, and doctors and support staff in the nation's hospitals want in on it. While those groups of workers have historically been less engaged in union activity than their nurse colleagues, they are expressing an unprecedented level of interest in organizing. (Devereaux, 10/20)
Asheville Watchdog:
Doctors Decry HCA's Handling Of Mission Hospital
Fifty doctors, including a former member of the board of directors of Mission Hospital and a former chief of staff, have written a letter condemning what they say is HCA Healthcare’s “for-profit-driven” management after buying the nonprofit hospital system in 2019 for $1.5 billion. (Jones, 10/22)
Modern Healthcare:
Blue Cross North Carolina, FastMed Make Urgent Care Deal
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has struck a deal to acquire 55 urgent care centers from FastMed, the insurer announced Friday. The nonprofit carrier plans to ramp up FastMed operations in North Carolina after a downturn related to the COVID-19 pandemic, in part by boosting hiring. The parties did not disclose the terms of the sale agreement. (Berryman, 10/20)
The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Penn Hospital Will Get $86 Million From 340B Drug Program
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is in line to receive $86 million from the government under a legal settlement resolving cuts made to a national drug discount program designed to strengthen safety-net hospitals. The amount for Penn’s flagship hospital in University City amounts to the sixth-largest payout to any hospital in the nation, and accounts for the bulk of the $129.2 million coming to the University of Pennsylvania Health System, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Brubaker, 10/23)
KFF Health News:
Tiny, Rural Hospitals Feel The Pinch As Medicare Advantage Plans Grow
Jason Bleak runs Battle Mountain General Hospital, a small facility in a remote Nevada gold mining town that he described as “out here in the middle of nowhere.” When several representatives from private health insurance companies called on him a few years ago to offer Medicare Advantage plan contracts so their enrollees could use his hospital, Bleak sent them away. “Come back to the table with a better offer,” the chief executive recalled telling them. The representatives haven’t returned. (Tribble, 10/23)
Also —
St. Louis Public Radio:
MU Researchers To Study Combat Wound Infections
A team of researchers from the University of Missouri is working to address a longstanding issue on the battlefield—antibiotic resistant superbugs in combat wounds. Hongmin Sun, an associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at MU, and her team received a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Army. Sun, who is leading the research, said many of the drug resistant infections require medical professionals to use strong antibiotics to treat them. (Lewis-Thompson, 10/23)
Stat:
Impact Of Dobbs Ruling Felt At Reproductive Medicine Meeting
The annual meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine is usually a buoyant, shiny parade of new science, fresh technology products, and promises that together they will provide more people with more options than ever before for taking control of how and when, and if, they have children. (Molteni, 10/20)
