When the government began the push for electronic health records (EHR) as part of the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, public and private health care providers were required to demonstrate ‘meaningful use’ by 2014. Perhaps you remember visiting your doctor about this time only to discover he or she was frustrated, face buried in a computer screen desperately trying to find all the pulldown menus necessary to advance to the next page. Your doctor had to type physician notes while listening to you and examining you. Of course, that does not work well and is detrimental to the quality of your physician visit.
Category: Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare
Friday Links
- Direct primary care for everyone: A $2,000 voucher and 600 patients per doctor.
- A new FDA rule: In testing for new drugs, companies no longer have to ignore what they already know.
- Why the drop in fentanyl deaths? A fentanyl “drought,” which may have its causes in China.
- America is experiencing a “once-in-a-lifetime improvement in public safety despite a police-staffing crisis.”
- Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots in healthcare top the 2026 list of the most significant health technology hazards.
Wednesday Links
- ChatGPT diagnosed an illness that doctors got wrong. (Statnews)
- The case for letting pharmacists practice medicine.
- The downside of medical screenings.
- The European Union is attempting to regulate the ESG activities of large companies all over the world.
- Many elite Ivy League schools have at least two to three Times more “disabled” students than a decade ago. (If you are “disabled” you get extra time on tests.)
Your Primary Care Physician Will See You Now… but Only on Video After You Talk to an AI Assistant
Virtual care cannot replace a personal physician. Programs like Care Connect sound great if they are part of a direct primary care experience where patients have access to both in-person and remote physician visits. There is also the question of cost. Is a consultation with an AI agent that is reviewed and approved by a physician $125 or $25. I would expect virtual consultations to be less expensive than in-person visits, but AI practices may see things differently.