1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,159 This is Naomi Diaz with the Becker's Digital 2 00:00:02,159 --> 00:00:04,960 Health podcast. Here's your daily industry news briefing 3 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:06,580 for today, April 7. 4 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:10,160 First, president Donald Trump's tariffs could cause AI 5 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,119 prices to rise, hampering CIOs amid tightening IT 6 00:00:13,119 --> 00:00:15,059 budgets, The Wall Street Journal reported. 7 00:00:15,535 --> 00:00:17,855 Mister Trump's sweeping tariffs could increase the cost 8 00:00:17,855 --> 00:00:20,335 of components for big tax firms' cloud centers, 9 00:00:20,335 --> 00:00:22,815 which AI companies rely on for computing powder 10 00:00:22,815 --> 00:00:24,835 for their software according to the story. 11 00:00:25,454 --> 00:00:28,814 Matthew Mittelstaedt, technology policy research fellow at Washington 12 00:00:28,814 --> 00:00:31,539 C DC think tank Cato Institute, told the 13 00:00:31,539 --> 00:00:34,340 newspaper, quote, the AI future is now being 14 00:00:34,340 --> 00:00:37,299 taxed, end quote. If cloud costs rise, CIOs 15 00:00:37,299 --> 00:00:39,780 may need to lower directionary spending and delay 16 00:00:39,780 --> 00:00:42,420 hardware refresh cycles with budgets already tight for 17 00:00:42,420 --> 00:00:42,920 macroeconomic 18 00:00:43,460 --> 00:00:43,960 concerns. 19 00:00:44,414 --> 00:00:46,434 According to Lucia Sorareris, 20 00:00:46,975 --> 00:00:49,934 CIO and head of technology transformation and investment 21 00:00:49,934 --> 00:00:50,835 firm, Carlisle. 22 00:00:51,534 --> 00:00:53,934 Miss Sorareris told the news outlet, quote, many 23 00:00:53,934 --> 00:00:56,195 of us will need to rebalance our portfolio 24 00:00:56,494 --> 00:00:59,614 of technology projects and investments without the benefit 25 00:00:59,614 --> 00:01:00,114 of 26 00:01:01,109 --> 00:01:01,850 end quote. 27 00:01:02,710 --> 00:01:03,210 Second, 28 00:01:03,670 --> 00:01:06,230 a growing number of older Americans are relying 29 00:01:06,230 --> 00:01:08,469 on patient portals to communicate with their health 30 00:01:08,469 --> 00:01:11,030 care providers, but only a small share report 31 00:01:11,030 --> 00:01:13,364 being charged a co pay for doing so, 32 00:01:13,444 --> 00:01:15,524 An April 4 study from the University of 33 00:01:15,524 --> 00:01:16,024 Michigan 34 00:01:16,805 --> 00:01:19,364 found. The study published in JAMA health forum 35 00:01:19,364 --> 00:01:22,084 was conducted in early twenty twenty four through 36 00:01:22,084 --> 00:01:25,364 the national poll on healthy aging. It surveyed 37 00:01:25,364 --> 00:01:28,770 patient pearl messages habits among US adults 50 38 00:01:28,770 --> 00:01:29,430 and older. 39 00:01:29,810 --> 00:01:31,409 Of the 3,200 40 00:01:31,409 --> 00:01:34,370 respondents, more than three quarters reported having access 41 00:01:34,370 --> 00:01:36,770 to a patient portal, and nearly two thirds 42 00:01:36,770 --> 00:01:38,530 said they had used it to message a 43 00:01:38,530 --> 00:01:41,250 clinician within the past year. Here are four 44 00:01:41,250 --> 00:01:43,030 additional findings from the study. 45 00:01:43,375 --> 00:01:46,174 One, despite concerns that billing for portal messages 46 00:01:46,174 --> 00:01:48,575 could deter use, especially among those with lower 47 00:01:48,575 --> 00:01:51,694 incomes, just 13% of portal users said they 48 00:01:51,694 --> 00:01:53,075 were charged a co pay. 49 00:01:53,534 --> 00:01:56,575 Two, privately insured patients were most likely to 50 00:01:56,575 --> 00:01:59,189 report a fee with about 17% 51 00:01:59,270 --> 00:02:02,549 saying they were billed. Three, dual eligible or 52 00:02:02,549 --> 00:02:05,990 Medicaid patients followed closely at nearly sixteen percent. 53 00:02:05,990 --> 00:02:08,949 And four, those with veterans affairs coverage reported 54 00:02:08,949 --> 00:02:11,430 the highest portal usage, but were among the 55 00:02:11,430 --> 00:02:13,449 least likely to face a co pay. 56 00:02:14,025 --> 00:02:16,905 Researchers noted the study's limitations, including reliance in 57 00:02:16,905 --> 00:02:19,465 self reported data and the inability to distinguish 58 00:02:19,465 --> 00:02:21,645 between billable and non billable messages. 59 00:02:22,185 --> 00:02:24,525 Still, they said the results weren't further exploit 60 00:02:24,905 --> 00:02:25,405 exploitation, 61 00:02:26,250 --> 00:02:29,310 particularly into how coverage differences may affect communication 62 00:02:29,449 --> 00:02:32,269 between low income patients and their care teams. 63 00:02:33,049 --> 00:02:33,549 Third, 64 00:02:33,930 --> 00:02:36,409 Seattle Children's partnered with Google Cloud to develop 65 00:02:36,409 --> 00:02:38,909 an AI powered tool called Pathway Assistant. 66 00:02:39,215 --> 00:02:41,534 The tool built using Google's Gemini models on 67 00:02:41,534 --> 00:02:44,014 its Vertex AI platform is designed to help 68 00:02:44,014 --> 00:02:46,655 health care providers quickly access and apply critical 69 00:02:46,655 --> 00:02:47,555 medical information. 70 00:02:48,254 --> 00:02:50,495 Traditionally, retrieving such data could take up to 71 00:02:50,495 --> 00:02:53,930 fifteen minutes. With pathway assistance, clinicians can pull 72 00:02:53,930 --> 00:02:57,050 information from clinical standard work pathways in seconds 73 00:02:57,050 --> 00:02:58,110 according to Google. 74 00:02:58,490 --> 00:03:01,069 The tool builds on Seattle children's clinical effectiveness 75 00:03:01,210 --> 00:03:04,169 program, which includes CSW pathways for more than 76 00:03:04,169 --> 00:03:05,150 70 diagnosis. 77 00:03:06,105 --> 00:03:08,504 The hospital has used these standardized protocols since 78 00:03:08,504 --> 00:03:09,325 2010. 79 00:03:09,625 --> 00:03:12,185 More than 50 clinicians collaborated to refine the 80 00:03:12,185 --> 00:03:14,745 AI tool on early pilot suggested may reduce 81 00:03:14,745 --> 00:03:18,264 administrative burden and improve both provider efficiency and 82 00:03:18,264 --> 00:03:19,165 patient outcomes. 83 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:21,120 If you would like the latest health IT 84 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,040 and digital health industry news delivered to your 85 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,680 inbox every morning, subscribe to the Becker CIO 86 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:27,680 and Health IT Review e newsletter through our 87 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,060 website at www.beckershospitalreview.com.