Sharp HealthCare

Dandelion Health has spent years developing an advanced, multimodal data extraction model to glean insights from all parts of a patient's record, including MRIs and ECGs. Health tech startup Dandelion Health launched a clinical artificial intelligence marketplace that merges third-party algorithms and Dandelion's data platform and model validation capabilities to supplement clinical trials.The company, a real-world data platform focused on clinical analytics and precision medicine, expects the marketplace to exponentially grow the business and possibly transform the industry.Dandelion’s core competency is validating AI/machine learning algorithms. The startup’s aim is to use the highest-quality data to build out the next phase of AI in healthcare.To show proof of concept for the clinical AI marketplace, Dandelion released a study, performed on its data, on the efficacy of GLP-1s to reduce cardiovascular disease risk on a previously unstudied population. The results were in line with Novo Nordisk’s clinical trial results.In May, the company launched a GLP-1 data library as a multimodal real-world clinical data set built to surface insights and opportunities related to the GLP-1 receptor agonist drug class. They worked with Sharp HealthCare; Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Texas Health Resources to collect structured and unstructured data for more than 10 million patients. “We took an algorithm from a partner in Germany, from Pheiron, and we ran it through a data set that we already have, and we compared it then to a clinical trial to show in really practical detail, how could AI just really impact clinical research in a way that people haven't foreseen?” Elliott Green, co-founder and CEO of Dandelion Health, told Fierce Healthcare in an interview.In the marketplace, there are AI algorithms from various developers and structured and unstructured real-world data. Dandelion says life sciences companies, particularly drug developers, will be able to run studies on the validated algorithms in a fraction of the time it takes to conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT).For example, Dandelion’s proof-of-concept study, which included 4 million patients, was conducted in six weeks.“It's the raw waveforms, it's the ECGs, which is what allowed us to do this study. It's all of those things that you kind of wonder, where do they store this and where does it go? And the answer is, in very weird places it take an incredibly long time to find and so that's what we've spent three to four years doing, is building the pipes to extract that information," Green said.The primary use case Green foresees in the near term is for biopharma companies to understand other uses for their drugs, like if a heart failure drug could impact hypertension. Elaborating on this example, Green said that Dandelion has multiple algorithms that do ECG to hypertension predictions or diagnoses. Dandelion can then run the company’s question against the patient data it has, using an algorithm developed by a third party.“Clinical trials cost billions upon billions of dollars and take many, many, many years. And AI is one of the short, most surefire ways they have of attempting to shorten and cheapen that process," he said.Being able to use this AI experiment could save time and money for life sciences companies. While an AI-generated study can’t yet be used for purposes of FDA clearance, Green said that it could be used alongside a RCT.Eventually, Dandelion Health thinks that AI-generated biomarkers and endpoints could be incorporated into RCTs and even approved by the FDA.The clinical AI marketplace could ultimately engender more trust in AI for healthcare delivery organizations to use AI in clinical practice once the product is more built out.“An algorithm that spots hypertension for a life sciences company could also be a diagnostic tool or clinical decision support tool for a physician within a hospital system,” Green said.He also noted the results of AI clinical studies could be valuable for payers to understand the benefit of a treatment to a broader patient population.By being involved in the clinical AI marketplace, AI developers have the opportunity to have their model validated, trusted and utilized.“For AI developers, it's incredibly important because it gives you an ability to use your algorithm in a way that hasn't historically been possible, because without validation, you can't prove that it does what it says. So now we validate it, we use our data, we make it plausible,” Green said.

Microsoft announced it is partnering with Mass General Brigham, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and its health system UW Health to research and innovate advanced radiology-focused multimodal AI foundation models and develop medical imaging copilot applications. Mass General Brigham, UW School of Medicine and Public Health, and UW Health will work with Microsoft to explore how applications and algorithms can help radiologists interpret medical images, generate reports, analyze data and classify disease. The partners will explore deploying real-world use cases in clinical workflows, including through Microsoft's Nuance's PowerScribe radiology reporting platform, and create various medical imaging applications. The applications will be built on Microsoft's Azure AI platform and extend Microsoft's Nuance radiology applications. "Generative AI has transformative potential to overcome traditional barriers in AI product development and to accelerate the impact of these technologies on clinical care. As healthcare leaders, we need to carefully and responsibly develop and evaluate such tools to ensure high-quality care is in no way compromised," Dr. Keith J. Dreyer, chief data science officer and chief imaging officer at Mass General Brigham and leader of the Mass General Brigham AI business, said in a statement. "Foundation models fine-tuned on Mass General Brigham's vast multimodal longitudinal data assets can enable a shorter development cycle of AI/ML-based software as a medical device and other clinical applications, for example, to automate the segmentation of organs and abnormalities in medical imaging and increase radiologists' efficiency and consistency." THE LARGER TREND Mass General Brigham experienced disruptions to its system after a misconfigured CrowdStrike Falcon update was pushed to Windows on Friday, causing a worldwide IT outage. Although the health system was able to remain open during the outage and provide care to patients with urgent health concerns in the group's clinics and emergency departments, it had to cancel non-urgent surgeries and medical visits on the day of the outage. The radiology-focused partnership mentioned above is not the first time the health system has collaborated with Microsoft and UW Health to examine AI use in healthcare. At HIMSS24 in March, Microsoft announced the launch of the Trustworthy & Responsible AI Network (TRAIN), a consortium aimed at operationalizing responsible AI principles to ensure safety, quality and trustworthy AI use in healthcare. The consortium includes Microsoft as the technology-enabling partner and 16 health systems, including UW School of Medicine and Public Health and Mass General Brigham. Other members include AdventHealth, Advocate Health, Boston Children's Hospital, Cleveland Clinic, Duke Health, Johns Hopkins Medicine, MedStar Health, Mercy, Mount Sinai Health System, Northwestern Medicine, Providence, Sharp HealthCare, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In April, fellow tech giant Google Cloud and global enterprise Bayer announced a partnership to develop AI applications aimed at reducing radiologist burnout and increasing efficiencies in diagnoses. The collaboration intended to help organizations build scalable and compliant AI-enabled software for medical imaging while ensuring data security. The HIMSS AI in Healthcare Forum is scheduled to take place September 5-6 in Boston. Learn more and register.

Patients at Crescent Regional Hospital can schedule a non-touch visit with their doctor or any range of medical specialists from the Dallas area, or anywhere in the world, through the magic of spatial computing. The once-ailing hospital is now using holograms for non-touch patient visits and plans to expand its uses of holographic technology, Holoconnects announced Wednesday. WHY IT MATTERS Three-dimensional telehealth can help improve patient care visits, just as it helps train surgeons, doctors and nurses across the globe. With a full view of a patient's anatomy, surgeons can better navigate during surgical training and live operations, while nurses benefit from the simulation-training opportunities that hologram technology can provide. Through holograms, doctors at Lancaster, Texas-based Crescent Regional Hospital are projecting themselves into patients’ rooms, the Netherlands-based 3D holographic technology vendor said. Holoconnects said it previously installed an 86" Holobox display and video studio at the hospital and trained Crescent's clinicians, staff and technical operations team to use the technology. Now the hospital plans to add 24" Holobox Mini displays at several additional locations to increase the use of the technology among the hospital's clinical and specialty staff. Raji Kumar, Crescent's CEO and managing partner, said in a statement that integrating the technology within its hospitals will shorten patient wait times, increase access to specialty care providers and "improve patient care across multiple disciplines." While patients can access hologram visits for presurgical and postsurgical consultations, including cardiology, emergency care, gastroenterology, neurology, orthopedic care, pulmonology, general surgery, spine health, wound care and more, telemedicine rounds will help Crescent's doctors "economize" their time. Doctors could save up to 20 hours each week, Holoconnects contended. They can also use hologram technology for remote patient consultations, potentially eliminating long wait times, and for collaborative care planning. Crescent plans to expand its use of real-time hologram technology to assist with remote diagnostics, remote surgery assistance, language interpretation, medical training and education, and medical device demonstrations, Holoconnects said. Kumar purchased the hospital in 2018 upon the precipice of its closure and prioritized technology in improving service to its predominantly African-American and Latino patient population, according to the announcement. Crescent performs 2,000 orthopedic, spine and other surgeries annually and opened a cardiac catheterization lab last year. THE LARGER TREND Immersive experiences and spatial-computing applications also benefit patients. Augmented reality has been shown to distract patients from the anxiety of waiting and diagnoses, as well as pain. UCHealth launched its first mobile AR experience for patients , who can use their devices to interact with virtual dogs while waiting for appointments. Earlier this year, San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare announced the launch of a Spatial Computing Center of Excellence through a partnership with Epic and Dutch information analytics firm Elsevier. The Center is focused on developing holographic technology to enhance patient care with the Apple Vision Pro augmented reality headset. ON THE RECORD "Teleporting our doctors in real time to connect and speak with our patients from any location as a life-size hologram gives our patients access to the healthcare they deserve," Kumar said in a statement. "It also saves our doctors one of their most precious resources – time – enabling them to see as many patients as possible." Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News. Email: afox@himss.org Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.