OpenAI isn’t built for health care. So why is its tech already in hospitals, pharma, and cancer care?
By Mohana Ravindranath
statnews.com – The company behind ChatGPT didn’t set out to tackle health care. But despite ongoing concerns about its technology’s tendency to hallucinate, OpenAI is already inking deals with health care customers desperate to use it to speed up workflows without burdening their staff.
Best known for its free public chat tool used by millions as a conversational search engine, OpenAI also sells secure, enterprise commercial licenses for ChatGPT and its API to a range of health customers.
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Non-metro dwellers travel twice the distance for primary care
By Andrew (Drew) Rhoades
healio.com – Patients who live outside of metropolitan areas frequently drive for more than 20 minutes for a primary care visit, according to new data published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Longer travel distances are typical for a significant number of patients, as recent survey findings from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners showed that 40% of respondents had to travel more than 10 miles for health care visits.
Policymakers and researchers “require accurate market definitions to measure and monitor provider competition, access, and variation in outcomes and costs,” according to Sandra L. Decker, PhD, an economist at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and colleagues.
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Older Americans Living Alone Often Rely on Neighbors or Others Willing To Help
By Judith Graham
kffhealthnews.com – Donald Hammen, 80, and his longtime next-door neighbor in south Minneapolis, Julie McMahon, have an understanding. Every morning, she checks to see whether he’s raised the blinds in his dining room window. If not, she’ll call Hammen or let herself into his house to see what’s going on.
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DOJ set to intervene in UnitedHealth-Amedisys merger: report
By Paige Minemyer
fiercehealthcare.com – Despite meeting with executives looking to avert potential litigation, the Department of Justice is planning to intervene in UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of home health company Amedisys.
Bloomberg reported that the agency is preparing a lawsuit that could be filed in court as early as this week that seeks to block the deal. Antitrust regulators are worried that the combination could drive up prices in home health, according to the report.
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Doctors, facing another pay cut in 2025, call for permanent Medicare payment reform
By Heather Landi
fiercehealthcare.com – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is moving forward with a 2.9% cut to physician payments in 2025 despite protest from major industry groups.
CMS announced Friday it finalized the calendar year 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rule that sets payment rates for next year and also outlines new policies focused on primary care, preserved telehealth flexibilities and a strengthened Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). A CMS fact sheet on the rule outlines the key provisions.
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Early Deaths From Heart Disease Rising in Rural U.S.
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
usnews.com – More people in rural America are dying from heart disease, a new study says.
Heart disease deaths increased among 25- to 64-year-olds in U.S. rural areas by about 21% between 2010 and 2022, researchers report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
This occurred even as heart death rates declined 9% among seniors in urban areas, researchers found.
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