The feasibility of AI and machine learning (ML) tools in healthcare settings is up for debate. ChatGPT made headlines after a recent experiment proved it could pass all three parts of the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE). At the same time, experts continue to raise concerns about the tool’s limitations in real-life healthcare situations, as well as its proclivity for inaccuracies and bias.

While clinicians and other medical experts continue to debate ML’s effectiveness for treating patients, they’re neglecting a much more dependable and equally impactful use case: administrative work. ML has tremendous potential to streamline tedious administrative tasks and free up valuable time for clinicians, which ultimately leads to better patient outcomes. However, the effectiveness of AI in reducing administrative workloads hinges on providers’ ability to properly incorporate these tools into their work routines. 

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The mission of the Michael Reese Research & Education Foundation is to continue the legacy of Michael Reese Hospital by supporting research, education, and community service through relationships that foster quality health care. Our vision is for the provision of excellent care for all patients, regardless of demographic conditions.

The Michael Reese Foundation realizes this mission through:

● Providing grants for translational research projects, addressing clinical issues, converting

research to practical applications.

● Scholarships for diverse students to complete their health care education and fill the need within

their communities.

● Connecting underserved patients with comprehensive care and other community support

projects.

The Foundation is seeking a new Executive Director due to the retirement of their current executive director. 

More details here> 

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To better understand the social determinants of preterm birth, research efforts have shifted from women’s individual level characteristics toward their exposure to contextual markers. The Index of Concentration at the Extremes (ICE) is a novel measure of spatial social polarization that quantifies the extremes of both privilege and deprivation. Our population-based study adds to the limited published literature on the relation of ICE to preterm birth rates among African-American and non-Latinx white women. We found that the high degree of both racial and income polarization within communities was associated with preterm birth rates even among those who received adequate prenatal care.

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Every day, Adrienne Grimmett and her colleagues at Evara Health in the Tampa Bay area see stories of inequity in their patients’ teeth, gums, and palates.

Marked in painful abscesses, dangerous infections, and missing molars are tales of unequal access to care.

All of these ailments — which keep patients out of work because of pain or social stigma, and children out of school because they can’t concentrate with rotting roots — are preventable.

Annual dental checks are essential to overall health. But of the 67 counties in Florida, experts say, only one has enough dentists to treat all patients. Nine counties in Florida have fewer than three practicing dentists apiece. Lafayette County, in north Florida, doesn’t have a single one.

“It’s a social injustice,” said Grimmett, director of dental services at the not-for-profit, which serves Medicaid and uninsured patients in the Tampa Bay region.

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 Good luck to the students at the National Hispanic Medical Association! 

Great turn out~ Welcome to Chicago! 

The COVID-19 pandemic will continue to be a key presence in 2023, even as the public health emergency designation — which has propped up funding and key programs in the sector — winds down in May, sparking a major transition in the industry. [Healthcare Dive]

Providers, already facing pandemic-fueled labor shortages, may struggle to rein in expenses, and financial cricumstances for hospitals and clinicians may fall into negative margins this year. To make matters worse, clashes are expected between payers and providers during rate negotiations as both groups eye a potential widespread economic recession.

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 In an effort to maintain access to coronavirus vaccines for uninsured Americans, HHS has introduced a public-private partnership with pharmaceutical companies.

The partnership, known as the “HHS Bridge Access Program For COVID-19 Vaccines and Treatments Program” (“Program”), took a two-pronged approach to maintain access to coronavirus vaccines for the uninsured population.

HHS will invest $1.1 billion to establish a partnership with pharmacies so that they will offer coronavirus vaccines and treatments to uninsured individuals for free. Additionally, the program will reinforce the vaccine safety net.

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Premiums for Affordable Care Act benchmark plans rose across the country over the past year, with some of the lowest-cost silver plan premiums increasing in Illinois, according to a recent report from the Urban Institute. [Health News Illinois]

From 2022 to 2023, monthly premiums on average increased for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois — one of the cheapest silver plans in Springfield and Chicago — by 2.5 percent in Springfield and 0.2 percent in Chicago.

Overall, the lowest silver premiums in Chicago increased by an average of 21.2 percent, in part due to a 22 percent increase for a plan by Ambetter, which researchers said was likely due to the insurer offering a "very low" 2022 rate.

Despite increases in some plans in urban and rural markets nationally, analysts attributed differences between the two to heightened competition in large cities, which drives lower rates.

“Rural healthcare is always going to be expensive,” said John Holahan, a fellow at the Urban Institute. “In an ideal world, big teaching hospitals would be incentivized (to expand) ... If there are more providers, insurers can maybe negotiate better premiums.”

Inflation and the uncertain future of enhanced premium tax credits also contributed to higher premiums. While subsidies were extended last fall, insurers needed to prepare in case tax credits did not continue, Holahan said.

“Rule of thumb is that the more subsidized something is, the more healthy people will be more likely to buy insurance or go into a marketplace,” he said. “If they have to pay more, some healthy people will just forgo, figuring they're healthy enough.”

 Illinois was not the only state facing steeper premiums. While average premiums went down annually from 2019 to 2022, this year was a shift. Benchmark plan premiums went up nationally by an average of 3.4 percent in 2023.

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