/ en Wed, 30 Jul 2025 13:41:00 -0500 Thu, 24 Jul 25 16:01:03 -0500 /news/headline/2025-07-24-aha-epic-collaborate-toward-improving-maternal-health-outcomes <p>The AHA July 24 <a href="/press-releases/2025-07-24-american-hospital-association-and-epic-collaborate-toward-improving-maternal-health-outcomes">announced</a> it is collaborating with health care technology leader Epic to help hospitals adopt tools that support the early detection and treatment of postpartum hemorrhage, a leading cause of maternal mortality. <br><br>The organizations have released a <a href="/guidesreports/2025-07-24-strategies-improving-postpartum-hemorrhage-outcomes">toolkit</a> that includes dynamic risk assessments, clinical decision support and treatment guidance embedded in the electronic health record. With the proper permissions from applicable content providers, users of any EHR should be able to implement a similar set of tools. <br><br>“The ���������� Association and Epic share a deep commitment to improving health outcomes for moms and babies,” said Chris DeRienzo, M.D., AHA chief physician executive and a neonatologist. “This new collaboration amplifies our efforts to drive continuous improvement by sharing evidence-based resources to help reduce this tragic condition. It’s a natural extension of <a href="/aha-patient-safety-initiative">AHA’s Patient Safety Initiative</a>, a collaborative data-driven effort to highlight and learn from patient safety progress at hospitals and health systems around the country.” <br><br>The AHA and Epic will support hospitals in their implementation journey with programming, resources and a space to learn from each other and engage with hospitals already seeing successful outcomes with items that are included in the toolkit. </p> Thu, 24 Jul 2025 16:01:03 -0500 Technology /news/headline/2025-07-23-white-house-releases-ai-action-plan <p>The White House July 23 released an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Americas-AI-Action-Plan.pdf" target="_blank">action plan</a> with a series of more than 90 policy recommendations to expand the use of artificial intelligence. The plan follows a directive from the administration’s Jan. 23 executive order, “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/removing-barriers-to-american-leadership-in-artificial-intelligence/" target="_blank">Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence</a>.” The policy recommendations are aligned across three pillars — accelerating innovation, building American AI infrastructure, and leading in international diplomacy and security. The action plan recommends the launch of sector-specific efforts, including health care, to convene stakeholders to accelerate the development and adoption of national standards for AI systems. It also calls for testing AI system pilots in real-world settings across health care and other sectors through regulatory sandboxes and AI centers of excellence.</p><p>Other policy recommendations include removing onerous federal regulations that hinder AI development and deployment; expediting permits for building data centers and semiconductor facilities; expanding AI literacy and skills for education and workforce training; and bolstering critical infrastructure cybersecurity pertaining to AI.</p> Wed, 23 Jul 2025 15:08:08 -0500 Technology /news/headline/2025-06-27-cms-announces-new-prior-authorization-program-pilot <p>The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services June 27 <a href="https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-launches-new-model-target-wasteful-inappropriate-services-original-medicare" title="rollout">announced</a> the rollout of a 6-year technology-enabled prior authorization program pilot. Through the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction Model pilot, CMS will partner with third-party entities to implement a technology-based prior authorization program for a specified list of services delivered to patients with traditional fee-for-service Medicare. Under the regionally based model, participating providers will have the choice of submitting prior authorization requests for selected items and services or subjecting their post-service claim to pre-payment medical review. </p> Fri, 27 Jun 2025 16:28:14 -0500 Technology /lettercomment/2025-06-16-aha-comments-cms-and-astponc-request-information-re-health-technology-ecosystem <p>June 16, 2024</p><p>The Honorable Thomas Keane, M.D.<br>Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy<br>National Coordinator for Health Information Technology<br>Department of Health and Human Services<br>Attention: CMS-0042-NC<br>P.O. Box 8013<br>Baltimore, MD 21244-8013</p><p>The Honorable Stephanie Carlton<br>Deputy Administrator and Chief of Staff<br>Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services<br>Department of Health and Human Services<br>Attention: CMS-0042-NC<br>P.O. Box 8013<br>Baltimore, MD 21244-8013</p><p><em>Submitted Electronically</em></p><p><em><strong>RE: CMS-0042-NC Request for Information; Health Technology Ecosystem</strong></em></p><p>Dear Assistant Secretary Keane and Deputy Administrator Carlton,</p><p>On behalf of our nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, our clinician partners — including more than 270,000 affiliated physicians, 2 million nurses and other caregivers — and the 43,000 health care leaders who belong to our professional membership groups, the ���������� Association (AHA) appreciates the opportunity to provide comment on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ASTP/ONC) Request for Information (RFI) regarding the Health Technology Ecosystem.</p><p>We support the agencies’ goals of reducing barriers for data interoperability and fostering innovation to support better health outcomes. The AHA recognizes the pivotal role that health technology plays in care delivery today and its potential to transform the patient and provider experience in the future. From artificial intelligence (AI) to mobile apps, medical devices to electronic health records (EHRs) — technology supports improvements in quality and efficiency for patients, caregivers and providers. Moreover, we believe that technology and data interoperability have the potential to address some of the prevalent challenges confronting the health care ecosystem today, including provider burnout and staffing shortages driven by administrative burdens. We also recognize that the innovative applications of health information technology (IT) must be balanced with reasonable guardrails to protect sensitive patient data and ensure security and privacy. In addition, while health technology can make care more efficient, implementing new tools and standards often requires significant financial investment and workflow changes for health care providers. This makes it critical for policymakers to ensure that policy changes intended to spur adoption are scoped and paced sustainably.</p><p>The AHA has several recommendations to improve health IT standards and infrastructure, increase beneficiary access to effective digital health tools, and advance data availability to improve health outcomes. Specifically, we recommend that CMS and ASTP/ONC:</p><ul><li>Foster a sustainable pace of standards implementation by continuing to develop ASTP/ONC’s United States Core Data for Interoperability vocabulary standards (USCDI), and extending the timeline to transition from USCDI version 3 to USCDI version 4 by an additional year (through calendar year (CY) 2028).</li><li>Collaborate across agencies to address broader infrastructure challenges associated with health IT adoption, such as lack of broadband, digital literacy training and reliable Wi-Fi access for rural and underserved communities.</li><li>Support reimbursement for the use of health technology by clarifying guidance on digital health and interprofessional consultation billing codes, and develop pathways to provide provisional payment for new technologies.</li><li>Promote accountability and engagement from payers on interoperability by requiring that impacted payers adopt and use certified payer application programming interfaces (APIs) and developing safety and security requirements for the Provider Directory APIs.</li><li>Repeal provider disincentives in the June 2024 final rule “21st Century Cures Act: Establishment of Disincentives for Healthcare Providers That Have Committed Information Blocking.” Under the final rule, hospitals and providers found to engage in information blocking may face excessive reductions in payment, which threatens access to services (particularly in rural and underserved areas).</li><li>Build additional infrastructure to provide oversight for Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), including establishing an attestation schedule for all qualified health information networks (QHINs)</li><li>Provide protections to ensure hospitals or health systems that have a QHIN that is suspended or terminated are not held liable for information blocking claims.</li><li>Advance administrative simplification efforts by establishing a standard transaction for clinical attachments to support claims.</li><li>Streamline current price transparency policies to remove complexity from the patient experience by focusing on options for patient estimates and other pricing information. Rely on No Surprises Act good faith estimates (GFEs) and advanced explanation of benefits (AEOBs) to provide patients with the most accurate estimates for their courses of care.</li><li>Provide incentives for technology investment to enable providers to transition to value-based arrangements.</li><li>Revert to previous thresholds (i.e., percentage threshold for the number of clinicians meeting certified electronic health record requirements) for the Medicare Shared Savings Program promoting interoperability measures.</li></ul><p>There are other areas relevant to the health technology ecosystem that were not directly addressed in the RFI, including cybersecurity. We included several health IT and cybersecurity-focused recommendations in our recent response to the Office of Management and Budget's RFI on deregulation, including modifying the HIPAA cybersecurity rule of December 2024 to make the requirements voluntary.<sup>1</sup></p><p>Our detailed comments are attached. We look forward to the opportunity to work with CMS, ASTP/ONC and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to help realize technology’s full potential for improving health outcomes, fully engaging patients in managing their health and reducing administrative burden. Please contact me if you have questions, or feel free to have a member of your team contact Jennifer Holloman, AHA director of health IT policy, at <a href="mailto:jholloman@aha.org">jholloman@aha.org</a>.</p><p>Sincerely,</p><p>/s/</p><p>Ashley Thompson<br>Senior Vice President<br>Public Policy Analysis and Development</p><p>__________</p><p><sup>1</sup> <a href="/system/files/media/file/2025/05/aha-response-to-omb-deregulation-rfi-letter-5-12-2025.pdf">/system/files/media/file/2025/05/aha-response-to-omb-deregulation-rfi-letter-5-12-2025.pdf</a><br> </p> Mon, 16 Jun 2025 13:30:11 -0500 Technology /news/headline/2025-05-28-agencies-release-guidance-ai-data-security <p>The National Security Agency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and international partners May 22 released <a href="/system/files/media/file/2025/05/joint-cybersecurity-information-tlp-clear-ai-data-security-may-2025.pdf">guidance</a> on securing data used for artificial intelligence and machine learning systems. The guidance outlines potential risks from data integrity issues in various stages of AI development and usage, and it provides best practices to secure AI-based system data. Additionally, the guidance examines three significant areas of data security risks in AI systems — the data supply chain, maliciously modified or “poisoned” data and data drift.  <br><br>“This crucial reference guide, compiled by the world’s leading government AI experts, is a must-read for health care leaders involved in the governance, development or deployment of AI systems in their organizations,” said John Riggi, AHA national advisor for cybersecurity and risk. “The guide discusses specific methodologies to help ensure data security and integrity throughout the AI system lifecycle. These include starting with sourcing reliable data sets and employing immutability and encryption tools, along with digital signatures, to validate and record any trusted changes to AI systems and data.” <br> <br>For more information on this or other cyber and risk issues, contact Riggi at <a href="mailto: jriggi@aha.org">jriggi@aha.org</a>. For the latest cyber and risk resources and threat intelligence, visit <a href="/cybersecurity">aha.org/cybersecurity</a>.</p> Wed, 28 May 2025 16:02:02 -0500 Technology /education-events/smart-hospital-smarter-care <p><strong>Smart Hospital — Smarter Care   </strong><br><em>Reimagining Hospital Efficiency and Security Through Smart Technologies  </em></p><p><strong>Thursday, June 26, 2025 </strong><br><em>1 - 2 p.m. Eastern; noon - 1 p.m. Central; 10 - 11 a.m. Pacific</em></p><div class="webreplay"> .webreplay{ border: solid 2px #777; padding: 15px 5px; margin: 0 0 10px 15px; } @media (min-width:360px){ .webreplay{ min-width: 290px; float: right; } } <h2 class="text-align-center"><small>On-demand Webinar</small></h2> MktoForms2.loadForm("//sponsors.aha.org", "710-ZLL-651", 4667);</div><p>As hospitals navigate rising operational demands and safety challenges, it has become imperative to adopt technologies that deliver real-time insights; optimize resources; and create safer, more responsive environments. During this session, experts will walk you through a comprehensive suite of intelligent solutions designed to elevate hospital performance and ensure the well-being of patients, staff and visitors. Join us to learn how a transformative Smart Hospital framework can deliver measurable improvements in patient safety and incident response.  </p><p>You’ll learn about real-world applications of Smart Hospital innovations such as:  </p><ul><li><strong>Driving Operational Efficiency through Smart Facilities Management </strong><br>Learn how to optimize indoor environments, space usage and asset performance using AI-powered monitoring and analytics to improve patient comfort and staff productivity.</li><li><strong>Enhancing Safety and Security with Intelligent, Real-Time Monitoring </strong><br>Discover advanced tools to detect patient falls, locate missing persons, manage crowds and secure critical hospital areas — helping reduce risk and improve response times.</li><li><strong>Building the Business Case for Smart Hospital Transformation </strong><br>Understand the measurable ROI of intelligent hospital systems and gain strategies to advocate for digital modernization within your organization.</li></ul><p><strong>Speakers: </strong><br><br>KS Kumar <br><em>Executive Vice President – Corporate</em><br><strong>Sutherland Global </strong></p><div><p lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US" paraid="630931844" paraeid="{014ceb96-ae9b-490a-8ea0-f22f48f9f9af}{11}">Lesley Antes <br><em>Vice President, Head of Provider Markets  </em><br><strong>Sutherland Healthcare Solutions </strong></p></div> Fri, 16 May 2025 13:19:19 -0500 Technology /aha-center-health-innovation-market-scan/2025-04-21-driving-drivers <div class="raw-html-embed"> </div><div> /* Banner_Title_Overlay_Bar */ .Banner_Title_Overlay_Bar { position: relative; display: block; overflow: hidden; max-width: 1170px; margin: 0px auto 25px auto; } .Banner_Title_Overlay_Bar h1 { position: absolute; bottom: 40px; color: #003087; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, .8); width: 100%; padding: 20px 40px; font-size: 3em; box-shadow: 0 3px 8px -5px rgba(0, 0, 0, .6); } @media (max-width:991px) { .Banner_Title_Overlay_Bar h1 { bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; font-size: 2.5em; } } @media (max-width:767px) { .Banner_Title_Overlay_Bar h1 { font-size: 2em; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; padding: 10px 20px; } } @media (max-width:530px) { .Banner_Title_Overlay_Bar h1 { position: relative; background-color: #63666A22; } } /* Banner_Title_Overlay_Bar // */ <header class="Banner_Title_Overlay_Bar"><img src="/sites/default/files/2024-01/Trailblazers_Amazon_banner_1170x250.png" alt="Cover of Driving the Drivers: How hospitals and health systems can leverage technology and workflow optimization to address health-related social needs" width="1168" height="250"><div><h1>Driving the Drivers</h1></div></header></div> h2{ margin-top: 0px; } p.center_Intro { color: #002855; line-height: 1.2em; font-size: 30px; margin: 10px 0 25px 0; font-weight: 700; font-size: 2em; } p.center_Lead { color: #63666A; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; font-size: 21px; } <div class="row"><div class="col-sm-8"><h2>How hospitals and health systems can leverage technology and workflow optimization to address health-related social needs.</h2><p>Addressing a patient’s social care needs can be a challenging journey for hospitals and health systems. It begins with screening a patient for health-related social needs (HRSN) and, ideally, ends with the patient being connected to the resources they need to experience better health outcomes.</p><p>How can hospitals and health systems reduce those gaps in the HRSN journey for themselves, their clinicians, their staff and, most importantly, their patients and communities? Technology-driven automation is the answer.</p><p>Screening patients for HRSN needs and using those data hit the four targets in the Quadruple Aim. It’s the people who use technology-driven automation to improve SDOH screening processes and measure the results. These results enhance patient experience, improve population health, reduce costs and improve the work life of health care providers.</p><div class="row"><div class="col-sm-12"><p><strong>Sponsored by:</strong><a href="https://uniteus.com/" target="_blank" title="UniteUs"><strong><img src="/sites/default/files/2020-05/Logo_UniteUs_834x313.jpg" alt="UniteUs logo" width="834" height="313"></strong></a></p></div></div></div><div class="col-sm-4"><img src="/sites/default/files/2024-01/Trailblazers_logo-924x265.png" alt="TrailBlazers" width="100%" height="100%"><p><br><a href="#DownloadNow" title="Download, Driving the Drivers: How hospitals and health systems can leverage technology and workflow optimization to address health-related social needs"><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-04/Traiblazers_UniteUs_cover_777x600.png" alt="Cover, Driving the Drivers: How hospitals and health systems can leverage technology and workflow optimization to address health-related social needs" width="100%" height="100%"> </a><br><a class="btn btn-primary" href="#DownloadNow" title="Download, Driving the Drivers: How hospitals and health systems can leverage technology and workflow optimization to address health-related social needs">Download</a></p></div></div> .y-hr3 div:nth-child(2) { border-top: solid 15px #67c1c3; margin: 50px 0px; height: 0px; <div class="row y-hr3"><div class="col-md-3"> </div><div class="col-md-6"> </div><div class="col-md-3"> </div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-sm-4"><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-04/Trailblazers_UniteUs_FirstSection_700x1064.png" alt="Illustration of various types of people walking around" width="100%" height="100%"></div><div class="col-sm-8"><h2>Capitalizing on Opportunities</h2><p>Technology-driven automation can help provider organizations capitalize on these opportunities in the following ways:</p><ul><li><strong>Enhanced Patient Experience:</strong> <br>Screening allows health care providers to understand the patient’s full context and tailor care accordingly, leading to a more patient-centered approach.</li><li><strong>Improved Patient Outcomes:</strong> <br>By identifying and addressing social needs, health care providers can help patients overcome barriers to accessing care and improving their health.</li><li><strong>Reduced Health Care Costs:</strong> <br>Addressing social needs can prevent unnecessary hospitalizations and emergency department visits, ultimately reducing health care costs.</li><li><strong>Strengthened Community Partnerships:</strong> <br>Screening initiatives can help hospitals build relationships with community organizations, creating a network of resources to support patients’ needs.</li></ul><p><a href="#DownloadNow" title="Download, Driving the Drivers: How hospitals and health systems can leverage technology and workflow optimization to address health-related social needs"><strong>READ MORE.</strong></a></p></div></div><div class="row y-hr3"><div class="col-md-3"> </div><div class="col-md-6"> </div><div class="col-md-3"> </div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-sm-4"><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-04/Trailblazers_UniteUs_Presbyterian_700x532.png" alt="Exterior of Presbyterian Healthcare Services" width="700" height="532"></div><div class="col-sm-8"><h2>Case Study: Presbyterian Healthcare Services</h2><h3>From ‘Scattershot’ to Standardized</h3><p>In 2018, PHS adopted the screening system and used it for the accountable health communities project before scaling up to systemwide screening and integrating it into the EHR in 2021. In early 2024, PHS migrated to Unite Us. The three systems — HRSN screening, EHR and portal — now work in concert to power the HRSN screening process as part of routine health care. This approach eliminated paper screenings, standardized screening workflows across care sites, and integrated patients’ HRSN screening data into their EHRs and patient portals.</p><p><a href="#DownloadNow" title="Download, Driving the Drivers: How hospitals and health systems can leverage technology and workflow optimization to address health-related social needs"><strong>READ MORE.</strong></a></p></div></div><div class="row y-hr3"><div class="col-md-3"> </div><div class="col-md-6"> </div><div class="col-md-3"> </div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-sm-4"><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-04/Trailblazers_UniteUs_Yale_NewHaven_700x532.png" alt="Exterior of Yale New Haven Health" width="700" height="532"></div><div class="col-sm-8"><h2>Case Study: Yale New Haven Health</h2><h3>Willingness Replaces Hesitancy</h3><p>In 2020, YNHH implemented the automated social referral platform from Unite Us, a New York-based technology company. This was paired with improved workflows within the EHR. The move turned hesitancy into willingness for each of the system’s challenges. Patients now can complete their HRSN screening questions in their homes through the patient portals. They can do it on their smartphones, tablets, laptops, in kiosks at check-in, and by clinicians and support staff in any inpatient or outpatient setting before, during or after a visit.</p><p><a href="#DownloadNow" title="Download, Driving the Drivers: How hospitals and health systems can leverage technology and workflow optimization to address health-related social needs"><strong>READ MORE.</strong></a></p></div></div><div> .SponsorMarketoForm { background-color: ; padding:5px 25px; border: solid 2px #307FE2; margin:50px 15px 0px !important; display:inline-block; width:100%; } .SponsorMarketoForm h3{ margin:10x 0 0 0 ; color:#eaaa00; font-size:.7em; text-transform:uppercase; font-weight:400; letter-spacing:3px; max-width:200px; /* Custom for the copy length */ background-color:#fff; padding: 5px 15px; position:relative; top:-35px; height: 0px; } .SponsorMarketoForm h2{ color: #002855; } .SponsorMarketoForm .SponsorMarketoFormHolder{ background-color: ; padding:15px; display: inline-block; margin-bottom:25px; } .SponsorMarketoFormHolder form{ margin: auto; } @media (max-width:640px){ .SponsorMarketoForm { padding:5px 0px; } .SponsorMarketoForm .SponsorMarketoFormHolder{ padding:15px 0px; } } /* Marketo Over-ride */ .mktoForm .mktoFormRow:nth-child(3){ float: left; } /*Center the last row .mktoForm .mktoFormRow:nth-child(4){ margin-left:15%; } */ .mktoForm label{ font-size: 0px; width: 0px !important; } .mktoForm input{ height: 30px } .mktoForm .mktoButtonRow{ float: left; } .mktoForm .mktoButtonWrap { margin-left:20px !important; } .mktoForm .mktoButton { background-color: #307FE2 !important; border: 1px solid #307FE2 !important; color: #fff !important; padding: 0.4em 1em; font-size: 1em; background-image: none !important; min-width: 190px; margin: 0 15px; border-radius: 4px; padding: 10px 20px; transition: all .25s ease-in-out; text-shadow: none; white-space: normal; height: 30px; font-weight: 700 } .mktoForm .mktoButton:hover{ background-color: #002855 !important; border: 1px solid #002855 !important; color: #fff !important; } .mktoForm .mktoClear { clear: none; } <div class="row spacer" id="DownloadNow"><div><div class="col-md-1"> </div><div class="col-md-10"><div class="cta--image-container full_width SponsorMarketoForm"><h3>Download Now</h3><div class="col-md-9"><h2>Driving the Drivers</h2><div class="SponsorMarketoFormHolder">   MktoForms2.loadForm("//sponsors.aha.org", "710-ZLL-651", 3641); MktoForms2.whenReady(function(form) { if (form.getId() == 3641) { form.onSuccess(function(values, followUpUrl) { form.getFormElem().hide(); document.getElementById("successAndErrorMessages").innerHTML = "<div><p>Thank you for downloading the latest AHA Trailblazers.<\/p><a class='btn btn-wide btn-primary' data-view-context='top-level-view' href='https:\/\/www.aha.org\/system\/files\/media\/file\/2025\/04\/Trailblazers_UniteUs.pdf' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer nofollow'>Download the Report<\/a><\/center><\/div>"; return false; }); }; }); <div id="successAndErrorMessages"> </div></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-04/Traiblazers_UniteUs_cover_777x600.png" alt="Cover of Driving the Drivers: How hospitals and health systems can leverage technology and workflow optimization to address health-related social needs" width="600" height="777"></div></div></div><div class="col-md-1"> </div></div></div></div> Fri, 11 Apr 2025 09:57:37 -0500 Technology /uc-davis-healths-ai-powered-solution-type-1-diabetes-management <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="col-sm-6"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-03/image-telling-hospital-story-uc-davis-healths-ai-powered-solution-for-type-1-diabetes-management.jpg" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="UC Davis Health. A man programming his write tracker." width="700" height="532" class="align-left"></p></div><p>About 2 million Americans — including over 300,000 children and adolescents — live with type 1 diabetes, or T1D. T1D is an autoimmune disease where immune system cells mistakenly attack insulin-producing cells, leaving the body unable to produce enough insulin to control blood sugar. Consistently monitoring blood glucose to maintain balanced levels, particularly for kids and their parents, is a constant mental drain.  </p><p>Enter BeaGL, a “metabolic watchdog” that uses machine learning to predict glucose changes and send alerts to devices like smartwatches before the patient has to take immediate action — aiming to reduce the cognitive load on patients. BeaGL was created by researchers at the University of California Davis and UC Davis Health who were inspired by their own personal experiences with managing T1D. </p><p>"It's the ultimate goal that the international diabetes community is working towards," said Stephanie Crossen, M.D., a pediatric endocrinologist, diabetes researcher and associate professor at UC Davis Health. "It would be a complete game-changer, especially for this adolescent and young adult age group, and it would allow these young people to function more typically and not have to be their own pancreas. It's hard to even quantify the potential of a system like that."<br><br><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://health.ucdavis.edu/news/headlines/with-ai-a-new-metabolic-watchdog-takes-diabetes-care-from-burden-to-balance/2025/02">LEARN MORE</a></p></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/topics/innovation">Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Thu, 20 Mar 2025 09:00:27 -0500 Technology /stories/2025-03-18-one-heart-three-lives-how-duke-health-revolutionizing-pediatric-heart-transplants <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="col-sm-6"><figure><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-03/image-telling-hospital-story-one-heart-three-lives-how-duke-health-is-revolutionizing-pediatric-heart-transplants-march-18-2025.jpg" alt="Yale New Haven. Image Margaret Van Bruggen, Kensley Frizzell and Journi Kelly" width="700" height="532"><figcaption>Margaret Van Bruggen, Kensley Frizzell and Journi Kelly (L-R) were the recipients of the first living mitral valve replacement.</figcaption></figure></div><p>Journi Kelly, 11, needed a new heart, but had healthy mitral valves. Margaret Van Bruggen, 14, and Kensley Frizzell, 9, had relatively healthy hearts; they just needed new valves. A groundbreaking procedure developed at <a href="https://corporate.dukehealth.org/news/duke-health-performs-worlds-first-living-mitral-valve-replacement" target="_blank" title="Duke Health">Duke Health</a> led to all three girls getting what they needed. </p><p>The Duke team performed the world’s first living mitral valve replacement, a type of partial heart transplant, which Duke pioneered in 2022. The transplant is even more remarkable for pediatric patients like Margaret and Kensley. Previous technologies relied on either mechanical valves or valves that came from preserved non-living tissue. Neither of those grow with the patient, so a pediatric valve replacement is a guarantee of multiple surgeries, sometimes as often as every six months, until the patient stops growing. The living tissue means that Margaret and Kensley should be able to steer clear of the operating room for some time. Journi went into sudden heart failure and was waiting for a heart transplant, though her mitral valves were undamaged. When a heart became available for Journi, her valves were a match for both Margaret and Kensley. </p><p>“To think that the lives of three girls could be saved after one full-heart donation is amazing,” said Joseph Turek, M.D., Duke’s chief of pediatric cardiac surgery. </p><p>“Before Journi’s surgery, we were told the doctors were hoping to try a new procedure and asked if we were willing to donate Journi’s old heart,” said Rachel Kelly, Journi’s stepmom. “They explained to us that they could use the healthy parts of it to help other kids. Our next question was, ‘Where do we sign?’”</p><p><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://corporate.dukehealth.org/news/duke-health-performs-worlds-first-living-mitral-valve-replacement">LEARN MORE</a></p><p> </p></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/topics/innovation">Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Tue, 18 Mar 2025 15:00:02 -0500 Technology /aha-center-health-innovation-market-scan/2025-02-25-3-takeaways-about-apples-new-mental-and-physical-health-study <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-8"><img src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/3-Takeaways-about%20Apples-New-Mental-and-Physical-Health-Study.png" data-entity-uuid="05e4905a-1173-4558-80c3-c17f9e1ba061" data-entity-type="file" alt="3 Takeaways about Apple’s New Mental and Physical Health Study. Three iPhones with the middle phone displaying the Apple Health Study homepage against a background with Apple logos." width="100%" height="100%"><p>The world of health care disruption and innovation often seems like a sprint, but it is a marathon.</p><p>Apple is a perfect illustration. The tech giant recently announced its new wide-ranging <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/02/new-holistic-apple-health-study-launches-today-in-the-research-app/" target="_blank" title="Apple Newsroom: New holistic Apple Health Study launches today in the Research app">Apple Health Study</a>. The longitudinal research aims to further understand how technology can play a role in improving physical and mental health and overall well-being.</p><p>The company stated that the study may take at least five years before its full impact is realized and will build on previous research from the <a href="https://hsph.harvard.edu/research/apple-womens-health-study/" target="_blank" title="Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Apple Women's Health Study">Apple Women’s Study</a>, <a href="https://sph.umich.edu/applehearingstudy/" target="_blank" title="University of Michigan School of Public Health: Michigan Public Health Apple Hearing Study">Apple Hearing Study</a> and the <a href="https://appleheartandmovementstudy.bwh.harvard.edu/" target="_blank" title="Brigham and Women's Hospital: Apple Heart & Movement Study">Apple Heart and Movement Study</a>. Even with that lag time, results from the study have the potential to be groundbreaking, the company notes.</p><p>Consumers can volunteer for the latest study through the Research app in the company’s iPhone and can opt out at any time. De-identified data from the study will explore relationships within various areas of health, such as mental health’s impact on heart rate or how sleep can influence exercise. The study is being conducted in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a research hospital and teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, Boston.</p><h2>3 Things to Know about the Study</h2><h3><span>1</span> <span>|</span> This is Apple’s most expansive health study yet.</h3><p>Unlike prior Apple health studies that focused on specific areas, this research will gather data from iPhones, Apple Watches and AirPods to try to discover new relationships within different areas of health, both physical and mental.</p><h4>Takeaway</h4><p>Much like its previous health studies, Apple will use the findings from this research to learn and inform its product development and potential features to add in the future. The hearing test offered through Apple’s AirPods is an example of how previous studies impacted product development. Other advances that came out of Apple research studies include the Vitals app on the AppleWatch and the Walking Steadiness app on the iPhone.</p><p>Changes in health can affect one or more parts of the body, and others may affect well-being overall, so helping to identify these changes earlier can help offer a more proactive approach to health. For example, early detection of a change in hearing health could reduce the risk for cognitive decline.</p><h3><span>2</span> <span>|</span> Survey tools will add important data to the research.</h3><p>Study participants not only will contribute data but also will be prompted to answer questions periodically about their at-home life and habits. The study spans many health and disease areas, including activity, aging, cardiovascular health, circulatory health, cognition, hearing, menstrual health, mental health, metabolic health, mobility, neurologic health, respiratory health, sleep and more.</p><h4>Takeaway</h4><p>The longitudinal, virtual study data can be used to predict, detect, monitor and manage changes in participants’ health, Apple states. Additionally, researchers will explore connections across different areas of health.</p><h3><span>3</span> <span>|</span> Scale will be an important factor in this study.</h3><p>It’s impossible to predict how many consumers will participate in the new Apple Health Study, but the company previously has had great success in recruiting participants for its research. More than <a href="https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2018/11/stanford-apple-describe-heart-study-with-over-400000-participants.html" target="_blank" title="Stanford Medicine News Center: Stanford, Apple describe heart study with over 400,000 participants">400,000 people</a> participated in the first Apple Heart Study. Broadening the scope and scale of this study has the potential to reveal previously unknown connections between lifestyles and different areas of health.</p><h4>Takeaway</h4><p>Access to a huge and diverse cohort (Apple device users) could help accelerate discovery and progress. “We anticipate we will likely find some signals that have previously just been missed because we haven’t had studies that are this broad, or we haven’t had studies that are this continuous. We haven’t looked longitudinally or at this level of granularity,” Calum MacRae, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, who will serve as principal investigator on the Apple Health Study, noted in a recent <a href="https://www.theverge.com/news/610308/apple-health-study-wearables-iphone-apple-watch-airpods" target="_blank" title="The Verge: Apple launches wide-ranging health study to help develop future features">interview</a>.</p></div><div class="col-md-4"><p><a href="/center" title="Visit the AHA Center for Health Innovation landing page."><img src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/logo-aha-innovation-center-color-sm.jpg" data-entity-uuid="7ade6b12-de98-4d0b-965f-a7c99d9463c5" alt="AHA Center for Health Innovation logo" width="721" height="130" data-entity- type="file" class="align-center"></a></p><p><a href="/center/form/innovation-subscription"><img src="/sites/default/files/2019-04/Market_Scan_Call_Out_360x300.png" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type alt width="360" height="300"></a></p></div></div></div>.field_featured_image { position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } .featured-image{ position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } h2 { color: #9d2235; } h4 { color: #9d2235; } Tue, 25 Feb 2025 06:15:00 -0600 Technology