» The Food and Drug Administration has launched a new app aimed at helping healthcare providers treat tough infectious diseases. CURE ID is an internet-based repository that allows providers to report their experiences managing difficult-to-treat infectious diseases with novel uses of existing FDA-approved drugs in the hopes of getting treatments to patients faster.
» Researchers at the University of Vermont have used machine learning and natural language processing to better understand what end-of-life conversations look like. A deeper understanding of these conversations, which are often fraught with emotion and uncertainty, also will help reveal what aspects or behaviors associated with these conversations are more valuable for patients and families, and allow educators to target their training of healthcare professionals to provide the skills needed in palliative care. The study was published in the journal Patient Education and Counseling.
» Testing for dementia among seniors may one day be as simple as talking into a smartphone app, thanks to speech-analyzing technology in development by engineers at UNSW Sydney. The app uses machine learning technology to look at paralinguistic features of a person’s speech, such as prosody, pitch, volume and intonation. It also tests memory recall.
» The Department of Veterans Affairs’ newly launched National Artificial Intelligence Institute will work with public and private partners to carry out artificial intelligence research and development projects, including efforts to apply AI to identify veterans at high risk for suicide or to help reduce patient wait times. The institute also will collaborate with federal agencies on national AI strategy and promote AI innovation in numerous sectors, including healthcare.
» A glitch in Medicare’s revamped prescription plan finder was steering unwitting seniors to coverage that costs much more than they need to pay, program experts say. The plan with the lowest premium is now automatically placed on top, whereas the previous plan finder sorted plans by total cost, not just premiums.
From the January 2020 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
