All articles tagged with #digital health
Mind is launching a year-long commission in England and Wales to examine the risks, safeguards, and opportunities of AI in mental health, gathering doctors, patients, policymakers and tech companies to shape a safer digital ecosystem after a Guardian investigation found Google’s AI Overviews could give dangerously misleading medical advice to billions of users.
AI-driven diabetes research is being funded with $2 million by Diabetes Australia Research Trust to support 19 cutting-edge projects across fundamental, clinical, health systems, and public health research, aiming to reduce diabetes complications and preserve beta-cell function.
Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman unveiled Luffu, an AI-powered family health platform that aggregates data from devices like Apple Health and Fitbit, plus family-shared data via voice prompts, text, or photos, to track medications, diet, and sleep; it offers personalized answers and proactive alerts, and is currently in private testing with a mobile app first, with hardware devices planned later to cover the whole family (including pets).
2025 marked a turning point for health tech as six IPOs added $36.6B and Health Tech 2.0 firms posted profitable growth, narrowing the trust gap with cloud peers. The report introduces the Health AI X Factor — four pillars (continuous velocity, durable revenue, AI productivity, and platform expansion) — to explain why a subset of Health AI companies can command premium valuations by scaling faster and more durably than prior generations. Seven 2026 predictions cover payer-provider AI adoption, clinician-in-the-loop clinical AI, CMS experiments with AI payment codes, cash-pay AI adoption, a budding health AI data infrastructure, AI-native value-based care, and the rise of digital CROs that could reshape pharma R&D.Private markets show stronger deal sizes and AI-driven funding shifts, suggesting a lasting, if not bubble-like, transformation toward AI-enabled healthcare growth and infrastructure.
The FDA announced plans to ease regulation of digital health products, including AI-enabled clinical decision support software, to promote innovation and faster market entry, signaling a shift towards more Silicon Valley-style regulation in healthcare technology.
Epic is ending its partnership program that involved taking a stake in Abridge, signaling a potential shift in its approach to competition in the digital health sector while maintaining a low profile on deals to avoid antitrust scrutiny.
Telehealth has evolved from a tool for accessible medical consultations to a major marketing platform for direct-to-consumer drug sales, with ads for various medications like erectile dysfunction and weight loss drugs becoming ubiquitous in city environments, reflecting a shift towards drug-first approaches in digital healthcare.
A recent study suggests that using smartphones on the toilet may increase the risk of hemorrhoids, with two-thirds of surveyed patients reporting such habits and a 46% higher risk observed among smartphone users. Doctors warn that this common behavior could have health implications.
The article emphasizes the critical importance of full-stack openness and verifiability across various domains, including health, digital tech, and civic systems, to enhance security, trust, and individual empowerment in a rapidly digitalizing world. It advocates for open-source, transparent infrastructure and hardware verification to mitigate risks and foster innovation, aiming for a future where technology serves societal needs more equitably and securely.
The article argues that AI has the potential to address many of the shortcomings of human doctors, such as diagnostic errors, outdated knowledge, and access issues, by providing consistent, rapid, and accurate medical insights, ultimately transforming healthcare delivery despite current challenges like digital divides and biases.
Researchers have developed machine learning algorithms that can detect subtle vocal changes associated with vocal fold lesions, potentially enabling earlier diagnosis of laryngeal cancer through non-invasive voice recordings, especially in men, with future applications possibly extending to women and broader clinical use.
Summa Health in Ohio tested an AI tool to predict sepsis in emergency departments, aiming to improve early detection amid overwhelmed staff and excessive false alerts from traditional systems, highlighting the potential and challenges of AI in clinical settings.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. secured commitments from major insurers to simplify prior authorization processes, including digital submissions and reduced scope, aiming to improve healthcare efficiency and patient experience, with participation being voluntary and plans to standardize procedures by 2027.
Samsung is expanding its digital health offerings with a new smartwatch update aimed at helping users monitor and improve their health as they age, including features like antioxidant measurement and personalized fitness coaching, to compete with Apple and other health tech companies.
Hims & Hers Health's stock rose over 6% following the announcement of its pending acquisition of ZAVA, a European digital health platform, which will expand its presence into the UK, Germany, France, and Ireland, aiming to deliver personalized healthcare globally. The deal, expected to close in late 2025 and funded by cash, will add ZAVA's 1.3 million active customers and nearly 2.3 million consultations last year.