Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New Hospital In Stanford Opens With Pricey Cutting-Edge Tech, Promises To 'Reduce Burdens On Patients, Staff'
The Wall Street Journal: New Stanford Hospital Takes Holistic Approach To Technology
The new Stanford Hospital that opens Sunday borrows ideas about user experience from its neighbor down the road, Apple Inc. The goal is to use technology in a way that makes the hospital more hospitable. The $2.1 billion facility, more than 10 years in the making, is incorporated into Stanford Health Care’s hospital campus in Palo Alto, Calif. Ron Johnson, a former senior vice president of retail operations at Apple, based in nearby Cupertino, advised on the project. (Rosenbush, 11/16)
Stat: Stanford’s New Hospital Is Packed With Futuristic Tech. Will It Drive Up Costs?
What does the hospital of the future look like? One vision of it is the shiny new Stanford Hospital, which wheeled in its first patients on Sunday morning after $2 billion in spending and a decade in planning and construction. It counts 368 patient rooms, occupies the square footage of 14.3 football fields, and towers 180 feet over Silicon Valley. ...Many health-care experts worry that pricey technology in hospitals and clinics will accelerate the rise of costs over time, resulting in higher prices for payers that can get passed down to patients in the form of higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs. (Robbins, 11/18)
The Wall Street Journal: Hospital System Uses AI To Boost Surgery Outcomes, Cut Costs
A homegrown artificial-intelligence system has helped Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare significantly improve the results of its surgeries, while also eliminating more than $90 million in costs over the past four years. The AI system was created in response to a cost-cutting effort that began in 2011, when Intermountain embraced value-based pricing. The network of 22 hospitals and 180 clinics in Utah and Idaho has switched to a system where it is longer compensated for each procedure performed, but instead gets paid for achieving certain measurable outcomes. (Kass, 11/18)
Stat: Hospitals Differ Sharply In What Patient Data They Give Google
In deals struck across the U.S., hospital systems appear to be adopting starkly different protocols for sharing personal health information with Google (GOOGL), fueling broad concerns about the ability of patients to control the use of their data. In a controversial collaboration with the hospital chain Ascension, Google gained access to millions of patient records, including names and birthdates, so it could use its artificial intelligence tools to analyze the information. The arrangement has triggered a fact-finding review by federal regulators. (Ross, 11/15)
