Health Technology

Model context protocol: the standard that brings AI into clinical workflow

Health Technology

May 29, 2025

The real limitation of clinical AI isn’t the model; it’s the context.

AI can draft notes, flag interactions, and read scans. However, when it comes to understanding the patient in front of you, it’s still a matter of working in the dark.

It doesn’t know the blood pressure you entered three minutes ago.

It can’t find the beta-lactam allergy buried in yesterday’s note.

It misses …

Addressing the physician shortage: How AI can help, not replace

Amelia Mercado

Health Technology

May 27, 2025

The physician shortage in the United States is a real and urgent issue. Projections from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) estimate that by 2034, the nation could face a deficit between 37,800 and 124,000 physicians. Primary care will be particularly affected, with a potential shortfall of up to 48,000 doctors. Rural and underserved communities will likely bear the brunt of the burden.

This shortage stems from multiple …

The silent threat in health care layoffs

Todd Thorsen, MBA

Health Technology

May 24, 2025

The health care industry rightfully remains vigilant against external cyber threats, with the Director-General of the World Health Organization even labeling file loss from ransomware as potentially “issues of life and death.” Patient safety and the sanctity of confidential health information are paramount—which are also the very reasons health care organizations are prime targets for malicious actors. But as economic headwinds lead to corporate layoffs and government budget cuts dominate …

In medicine and law, professions that society relies upon for accuracy

Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD

Health Technology

May 20, 2025

Integrity and trust are foundational. But today, that trust is under assault—not from human error, nor negligence, but from the sophisticated but disturbingly unreliable outputs of artificial intelligence (AI). What the media euphemistically calls “AI hallucinations” are not benign mistakes—they are dangerous fabrications, systematically undermining both clinical and legal standards.

As a psychiatrist, I confront the reality of hallucinations regularly. Patients vividly describe voices, visions, and sensations with profound distress. Hallucinations, …

“Think twice, heal once”: Why medical decision-making needs a second opinion from your slower brain (and AI)

Harvey Castro, MD, MBA

Health Technology

May 19, 2025

Medicine demands fast decisions.

Chest pain in triage. A vague complaint from an elderly patient. A scan with subtle shadows.

But the speed that saves lives can also lead to predictable, systematic errors, especially when we trust our gut too much.

Psychologist Daniel Kahneman taught us that we do not have one mind. We have two.

System 1 is fast, intuitive, and automatic. It makes snap …

Why fearing AI is really about fearing ourselves

Bhargav Raman, MD, MBA

Health Technology

May 16, 2025

I was at a conference of physician executives and physician founders recently, and there were many stimulating conversations. The idea that AI could see us as a threat and eventually destroy us came up in various forms, often as a half-serious joke. Half-serious jokes are serious concerns. Indeed, astrophysicist Martin Rees predicted that humanity had a 50 percent chance of destroying itself this century due to technological advances and threats, …

Health care’s data problem: the real obstacle to AI success

Jay Anders, MD

Health Technology

May 11, 2025

As health care embraces digital transformation, one truth is clear: AI’s success depends on data quality. No matter how advanced the algorithms, poor clinical data limits their effectiveness.

AI in health care: Promise meets reality

The health care technology landscape is abuzz with large language models (LLMs) and conversational AI applications that show remarkable capabilities in synthesizing patient information and streamlining clinical workflows. Clinicians …

What ChatGPT’s tone reveals about our cultural values

Jenny Shields, PhD

Health Technology

May 11, 2025

When Sam Altman recently said ChatGPT had become “too sycophantic,” the comment landed like a small UX confession—an admission that the model had gotten a little too flattering, a little too eager to please. Most coverage treated it as a byproduct of reinforcement learning. A bug to fix. A tone issue.

But that framing isn’t neutral.

Calling AI “too nice” is a values-based judgment. And it reflects something deeper than model …

Bridging the digital divide: Addressing health inequities through home-based AI solutions

Dr. Sreeram Mullankandy

Health Technology

May 7, 2025

As a physician who transitioned into health technology leadership, my journey over the past few years has revealed a fundamental truth: The future of health care delivery isn’t confined to hospitals or clinics—it’s in patients’ homes as well. I am not just talking about patients who have to be discharged early from our hospitals, but also about patients who don’t have easy access to health care and patients who have …

Staying stone free with AI: How smart tech is revolutionizing kidney stone prevention

Robert Chan, MD

Health Technology

April 29, 2025

Kidney stones are painful, frustrating, and unfortunately common. I see this brutal problem every day as a urologist. When my wife had her first kidney stone while celebrating her 40th birthday, this issue became deeply personal. Seeing her in pain and struggling to navigate the confusing world of kidney stone prevention made me realize just how difficult this journey is for patients.

Many people are given generic dietary advice – drink …

Medical school admissions are racing toward an AI-driven disaster

Newlyn Joseph, MD

Health Technology

April 17, 2025

Artificial intelligence (AI) large language models (LLMs) and the systems based on this technology have recently emerged onto the medical scene with huge promises to “disrupt” and innovate upon traditional clinical practice. Ignoring the hype and boom-bust adoption cycles associated with most novel technology, AI will eventually settle into the daily workflow of many physicians, be it through direct use, or indirectly, through integration within EMRs, insurance approval pipelines, or …

AI in health care: the black box of prior authorization

P. Dileep Kumar, MD, MBA

Health Technology

April 14, 2025

Amidst the recent news about the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO, the issue of prior authorization has come to the forefront again. Insurance companies use prior authorization as an easy tool to control the costs and incorporate it as a genuine step of the health care delivery process. The recent trend is to use AI (artificial intelligence) for prior authorizations. AI offers several advantages over human workers, further saving time and …

Hospitals are driving revenue and improving outcomes with telehealth

Chris Gallagher, MD

Health Technology

March 31, 2025

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth has become a household word; Americans have increasingly turned to virtual platforms to connect with their doctors. But what has not become widely known is the role telehealth is playing in hospitals and emergency rooms across the country. From virtual neurology and cardiology to maternal-fetal medicine and behavioral health, specialists are remoting into patient rooms to address life-threatening symptoms—and, in the process, they are reducing …

How AI is revolutionizing health care through the lens of Alice in Wonderland

Neil Anand, MD

Health Technology

March 14, 2025

Once upon a time, in the curious land of Wonderland, there lived a physician named Alice. On a curiouser and curiouser day, Alice found herself tumbling down the digital rabbit hole into a fantastical realm called Algorithmia, a land where the wonders of artificial intelligence (AI) shaped the very fabric of life. Guided by the enigmatic Mad Hatter, Alice encountered three peculiar AI Cheshire Cats—Transforma (transformers), Baye (Bayesian methods), and …

How copy and paste in EHRs is hurting patient care

Ben Hourani, MD, MBA

Health Technology

March 12, 2025

The electronic health record (EHR) has solved the illegibility issue of handwritten notes, but the downside and unintended consequences have been of equal or greater importance. The cult of the EHR “copy and paste” (CP) club in hospital care makes defending a Medicare billing audit a daunting task should a physician be required to justify their level of professional billing codes. The much more important issue, however, is that patient …

How data accuracy failures are costing lives and money in health care

Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD

Health Technology

March 10, 2025

Data fidelity refers to the accuracy with which information—“data”—qualifies and demonstrates the characteristics of the origin—“source.” The emergence of artificial intelligence in data monitoring has necessitated an elevated level of accuracy.

We are discussing the specific topic of data fidelity and accuracy because of recent events surrounding the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) audits of the Social Security Administration master file, which found a significant number of presumably “deceased …

The future of clinical trials: Are we ready?

Cristy Miles, MPH, MBA

Health Technology

March 9, 2025

Clinical trials have traditionally served as the cornerstone of medical advancements, yet the industry is now undergoing an unprecedented transformation. Innovations in artificial intelligence (AI), decentralized trial designs, and evolving regulatory frameworks are paving the way for a more efficient, accessible, and technologically advanced future. However, as we embrace these changes, an important question remains—are we fully prepared for what lies ahead?

The shift to decentralized trials

One …

Why your EHR’s certification matters more than you think

Sara Pastoor, MD

Health Technology

March 4, 2025

Modern EHRs and “CEHRT”

Electronic health records (EHRs) and their role in modern health care are inescapable today. But have you ever stopped to ask: Is my EHR certified? And more importantly, why does that matter?

As any EHR user knows, not all EHRs are created equal. A little-known differentiator is that some systems are Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT), while a growing number of newer systems are not. If you’ve …

AI agents in health care: Balancing innovation, trust, and evidence-based implementation

Harvey Castro, MD, MBA

Health Technology

March 4, 2025

Artificial intelligence (AI) agents significantly transform health care by automating routine tasks, enhancing clinical decision-making, and reducing administrative burdens. These intelligent systems are increasingly applied in medical documentation, diagnostics, and patient engagement, offering substantial potential for improved patient outcomes and reduced physician burnout.

However, substantial challenges in establishing trust, regulation, and evidence-based validation remain critical to achieving widespread adoption. AI in health care has received considerable attention, but clinical …

Artificial intelligence in health care: What your patients want to know

Cory Hayes, MPH, Sailee Bhambere, MPH, and Jeanna Blitz, MD

Health Technology

March 4, 2025

Most patients feel it is important to be informed when artificial intelligence (AI) will play a role in their care. Although most anticipate that AI will make health care at least somewhat better in the next five years, many express concerns about misdiagnosis, privacy breaches, unintended consequences of AI, and increased costs.

These mixed feelings highlight the importance of addressing patient concerns and providing clear, accessible information. To help patients better …