5 Must-Read Stories From the Week in Health Tech

Before you hit the beach and barbecues, catch up with the biggest stories to consume the Healthcare Analytics News™ audience over the past week. They contain insights into everything from predictive algorithms and data breaches to the future of GE Healthcare.

Every week, we cover publish news, analyses, and features on the most important issues in healthcare and technology. The thing is, given the chaotic nature of our news feeds, it can be difficult to find the articles that matter most.

>> LISTEN: Rural Healthcare’s High-Tech Hope

That’s where this weekly roundup comes in. On Fridays, we check our analytics dashboard and social media accounts to determine which stories have caught your attention. And then we compile them here, in one convenient spot, to accommodate the busy healthcare leaders who read this magazine. Consider this article your passport to our most exciting work.

Got any opinion on any of these topics? Think we missed something big? Let us know on on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. We’re always up for a good conversation. We also like story ideas, so make sure you send some over.

1. An Algorithm to Detect Low Blood Pressure During Surgery

This predictive technology can identify whether a patient in surgery will experience hypotension as early as 15 minutes before it sets in, and it’s all thanks to machine learning. And a lot of data—researchers used 550,000 minutes of waveform recordings from 1,334 patients’ records to extract millions of data points, which they used to train the algorithm. Ultimately, the innovation and others like it might “reshape our understanding of human physiology,” the lead researcher said.

2. Why a Standalone GE Healthcare Could Help the Tech

When General Electric (GE) announced plans this week to spin off GE Healthcare into a separate company, most people fixated on what seems like the continued downfall of one of the great American corporations. But you aren’t most people. For healthcare, the question is whether the move will affect GE Healthcare’s precision medicine, artificial intelligence, and big data initiatives. In this column, I argue that it will indeed touch those projects, for the better.

3. 5 Data Breaches That Show How Cybersecurity Must Evolve

In terms of technological capabilities, hackers tend to be two years ahead of cybersecurity professionals. Scary, right? The Internet of Things is especially vulnerable, as many security teams have yet to acknowledge the scope of connected devices on their networks. But healthcare’s cyber defenses can and must evolve. If you’re still not sold on investing in cyber tech, perhaps these horror stories will change your mind.

4. Using Telehealth to Power Patient-Centered Care

For a nonprofit health system in Florida, the distribution of its patients among several rural counties posed a problem. How could Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare provide patient-centered care if it couldn’t reach its patients? Telemedicine, its leaders found, was the key. So far, the organization has saved money, reduced readmissions, and upped patient satisfaction.

5. IBM Watson Health Releases Diabetes App, Touts Power of Data

The past month might have been tough for IBM Watson, at least in industry headlines, thanks to its wave of layoffs, but the company’s healthcare arm made plenty of good news at a recent diabetes conference. IBM Watson Health even released a new app, Sugar.IQ with Watson, which aims to personalize diabetes management. Here’s what you need to know.

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