Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: AI Will Make Visiting The Doctor More Personal; Medicaid Cuts Worry Dementia Patient Families
The Washington Post: Ambient AI Is About To Make Your Doctor’s Visit Much Better
The technology, which uses a smartphone app to “listen” to clinical encounters (with the patient’s consent) and convert the conversation into medical documentation, is transforming care for the better. Health systems and federal regulators should look to this example of how artificial intelligence that reduces administrative inefficiencies can vastly improve the care experience. (Leana S. Wen, 3/25)
Stat: The High Cost Of Cutting Medicaid Services For People With Dementia
In April 1990, in testimony to the joint congressional hearing titled “Alzheimer’s – The Unmet Challenge for Research and Care,” Hilda Pridgeon, a founder of the Alzheimer’s Association, recounted the challenges of working full-time for Control Data Corporation and caring for her husband, Al, who was living with dementia. The American health care system offered them no support. (Jason Karlawish, 3/25)
The New York Times: Human Embryo Research: What Time Limit Should We Set?
On June 24, 2022, the same day the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, I received a call from the fertility clinic where I’d been undergoing in vitro fertilization, informing me that seven of my fertilized eggs had made it to the five-day-old blastocyst stage. (Anna Louie Sussman, 3/25)
The CT Mirror: Uncertainty Harms Public Health
A few days ago, I spoke with “Lisa” who is a participant in a research study at the Yale School of Public Health. Lisa, a New Haven resident, has spent almost five years on a subsidized housing waitlist. Since losing her apartment early in the pandemic, Lisa has stayed on a relative’s couch anxiously awaiting rental assistance that would help her to afford her own apartment. Unfortunately, such subsidies are in short supply. (Penelope Schlesinger, 3/25)
The Washington Post: End Experiments On Dogs
Every year, more than 50,000 dogs, mostly beagles, are used in research in the United States. They are often used in painful and deadly tests, and laws to protect them are minimal. We should end this betrayal of man’s best friend. (Mark Bekoff and Jane Goodall, 3/24)
