In our Friday newsletter we recap the biggest news story of the week to make sure you don’t miss out on the latest trends, developments, and acquisitions in digital health. In case you missed it (ICYMI), this round-up will catch you up on the top stories from the past month.
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#1 Story: AI More Accurate than Sonographers for Cardiac Diagnosis
The story: Results from a novel blinded randomized control trial have shown that an artificial intelligence (AI) programme was more accurate in assessing and diagnosing the heart’s left ventricular ejection fraction, a measure of cardiac function, compared to the assessments performed by experienced sonographers with an average of more than 14 years’ experience.
What you need to know:
- A major finding of the Echo-Net trial was that the cardiologists made less corrections to the AI-generated assessment reports (16.8%) compared to the human sonographers’ reports (27.2%), demonstrating that the AI-based assessment reports were more indistinguishable from the cardiologists’ interpretations.
- The trial conducted by the Smidt Heart Institute and the Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine at Cedars-Sinai is the first large prospective randomized controlled trial completed of an AI algorithm in cardiology.
Industry implications:
- The FDA has already approved a number of AI based algorithms for analysis support and detection in cardiology. The superior endpoints achieved by AI in the Echo-Net trial provide evidence for future improved diagnostic capabilities led by AI technologies in cardiology.
- The diagnostic accuracy of AI algorithms are not only improving, but are proving more superior compared with human-based assessments. Artificial intelligence won't replace clinicians, but clinicians who utilize AI will have advantages over clinicians who don’t.
Get the full story here
In other news...
#2 Story Snapshot: The Race for Primary Care - CVS’s Acquistion of Signify Health
The story: CVS Health continues its expansion into primary care through an $8 billion, all cash acquisition of Signify Health. The drugstore giant outbid other potential buyers such as UnitedHealth Group and Amazon, and hopes the purchase will accelerate their growth in value-based care. It is the latest corporation to stake a claim in the primary care market following recent activity from Amazon and Walgreen.
Get the full story here
#3 Story Snapshot: Apple’s Watch Series 8: New Features Enabling Personal Health
The story: Apple recently announced the launch of the Apple Watch Series 8. The big health additions to this upgraded version include a new temperature sensor focused on women’s health, a crash detection feature, and AFib History.
Get the full story here
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