Big Tech Making Moves Into Patient Records, AI In Health Care
Google is exploring how patients may want to manage their own medical record data with a new tool, and Microsoft is ready to spend billions of dollars to buy an AI firm that could help doctors with note-taking and help predict patient needs.
Stat:
Google Is Exploring A Health Record Tool For Patients
After 13 years, Google is coming back for patient health records. The tech giant has launched an early user feedback program aimed at exploring how patients might want to see, organize, and share their own medical record data. The work could inform the creation of a consumer-facing medical records tool along the lines of Apple’s Health Records app. It also follows an early attempt by Google — later panned by medical experts — at creating a new version of the electronic medical record in 2008. (Brodwin, 4/9)
Bloomberg:
Microsoft Makes Big Bet On Health-Care AI Technology With Nuance
Microsoft Corp. is making a massive bet on health-care artificial intelligence. The software giant is set to buy Nuance Communications Inc., tapping the company tied to the Siri voice technology to overhaul solutions that free doctors from note-taking and better predict a patient’s needs. Microsoft may announce the deal as soon as Monday if talks are successful, according to people familiar with the matter. The price being discussed could value Nuance at about $56 a share, a 23% premium to Friday’s close, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Set to be Microsoft’s largest acquisition since LinkedIn Corp., the purchase would give Nuance an equity value of about $16 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show. (Bass, Baker and Porter, 4/12)
In other biotech and research news —
Axios:
Using Brain Interfaces To Learn About Learning
A new study uses a brain-computer interface (BCI) to observe the neural activity in monkeys during the process of learning. The internal state of the brain is often a mystery — including to ourselves — but new neural interfaces are making it easier for scientists to observe the mind in action. (Walsh, 4/10)
Axios:
Illumina CEO On A Genomics-Forward Future
The head of the world's leading genetic sequencing company predicts a future where genomic data will increasingly drive health care. As our ability to read genes gets faster and cheaper, genetic sequencing could pave the way for everything from enhanced disease surveillance to truly personalized care. (Walsh, 4/10)
Stat:
Researchers See A 'Tractable Approach' To Taming Chromosomal Metastasis
The latest hope for stopping untreatable cancers traces its roots to a turn-of-the-century German zoologist, gazing into a microscope at the eggs of sea urchins. Studying the process of fertilization, Theodor Boveri made a curious observation. In most cases, the correct number of urchin chromosomes lined up in perfect order and created an embryo. But every once in a while, the chromosomes would get scrambled, leading to unpredictable cell division and uncontrollable growth. Those aberrant divisions were the root cause of cancer, Boveri theorized in 1914, a once-controversial claim that has since been cemented in oncologic lore. (Garde, 4/10)
Stat:
Analysis Of Diversity At Premier Medical Journals Met With Silence
When cardiologist Raymond Givens read the article in the Journal of the American Heart Association last year, it stopped him in his tracks. Written by a fellow cardiologist, it claimed educational affirmative action programs were promoting underprepared Black and Hispanic trainees who would not gain admission to top medical schools or become the best doctors. While the article was widely condemned as racist and error-filled and was swiftly retracted by the journal, its publication left Givens with a host of questions. (McFarling, 4/12)
