Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Faces Concerns Over Bias; Merck Advances Treatment of Breast Cancer
Artificial intelligence in healthcare must still confront bias encoded in many existing systems. Elsewhere, Medicare FFS proves to pose fewer cost barriers than commercial coverage. Lastly, Merck makes a breast cancer breakthrough with Keytruda.
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By - Happy Thursday and hold onto your masks (depending on where you reside).
BIAS HOLDING BACK HEALTHCARE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
To ensure the safe and effective use of artificial intelligence in healthcare, researchers and developers will need to work to eliminate bias in these tools, according to a perspective paper by Stanford University researchers.
As artificial intelligence tools grow more prevalent in the medical field, leaders need to make sure these technologies benefit all populations and demographics.
“The white body and the male body have long been the norm in medicine guiding drug discovery, treatment and standards of care, so it’s important that we do not let AI devices fall into that historical pattern,” said Londa Schiebinger, the John L. Hinds Professor in the History of Science in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford. READ MORE
MERCK’S BREAST CANCER DRUG PROVING EFFECTIVE
Merck recently announced that its anti-PD-1 therapy, Keytruda significantly helped patients with high-risk early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)
The Phase 3 KEYNOTE-522 trial investigated Keytruda in combination with chemotherapy as pre-operative treatment, followed by a continued single agent treatment after surgery. Overall, researchers found that the trial met its dual primary endpoint of event-free survival when compared with chemotherapy alone, as well as the secondary endpoint of pathological complete response.
“KEYTRUDA is the first immunotherapy to show positive results for event-free survival in patients with high-risk early-stage TNBC, a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer,” said Roy Baynes, MD, senior vice president and head of global clinical development at Merck Research Laboratories, said in the announcement. READ MORE
MEDICARE FFS BESTS COMMERCIAL COVERAGE FOR COST BARRIERS
Adults ages 65 and older with traditional Medicare boasted similar access to care and a lower rate of cost barriers to care when compared with privately-insured seniors between the ages of 50 and 64, a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) report revealed. Over 15 percent of privately-insured Medicare seniors in the study would experience cost barriers, compared to 11 percent of traditional Medicare beneficiaries.
“High and rapidly growing health care spending in the U.S. is a concern for consumers, employers, tax payers and policy makers,” the researchers noted. “The relatively high prices paid by private insurers is one of the key factors fueling this trend, leading some policy makers to consider whether Medicare rates, or a multiple of Medicare rates, should be used to help control costs and address affordability concerns for people with private insurance.” READ MORE
WHERE’S THE VALUE IN CMS MIPS?
In a recent survey, physicians were asked if and how the four evaluation components of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) — quality, promoting interoperability, improvement activities, and cost — were improving value in healthcare as intended. Performance in these areas is how MIPS determines the payment rates clinicians will receive from Medicare, with the goal of improving care through performance-based incentives.
Of the more than 1,400 respondents, 55 percent believed that value would increase through activities performed in the quality domain, 70 percent in the improvement activities domain, 54 percent through activities in promoting interoperability, and 71 percent in activities relating to cost, according to survey results published in The American Journal of Accountable Care. READ MORE
PRESCRIPTIONS FOR NALOXONE DECLINED DURING COVID-19
Prescriptions for the overdose-reversing drug naloxone have declined sharply during COVID-19, according to a new JAMA Health Forum study, highlighting care access concerns for patients with opioid misuse disorders.
While overall emergency department visits have declined during COVID-19, nonfatal opioid overdose visits have increased by two-fold, and few patients who overdosed on opioids received naloxone prescriptions upon discharge.
Overall, researchers found that the number of individuals filling naloxone prescriptions decreased by 25 percent in the early months of the pandemic. For Medicare and commercial coverage beneficiaries, the number of individuals filling naloxone prescriptions declined by almost a third, highlighting significant care access barriers for those with opioid misuse disorders during COVID-19. READ MORE
SUTTER USING VIRTUAL CARE FOR PEDIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH
Sutter Health has launched a virtual care tool to help adolescents and young adults who experience mental health challenges such as anxiety and depression.
The California health system is targeting an age group in dire need of assistance. Almost 10 percent of the nation’s youth population is dealing with severe major depression, according to Mental Health America. More than 3 million youths have experienced at least one major depressive episode in 2021. Since the pandemic, 11-17-year-olds are more likely than any other age group to experience severe symptoms of anxiety or depression.
The platform includes information on symptoms, mindfulness exercises, connecting with loved ones, sleep, nutrition, and physical activity. It also provides tools to help caregivers support loved ones who are dealing with mental health challenges. Some of these tools include resources on understanding the loved one’s condition and tips on mindfulness, medication adherence, and self-care. READ MORE
