What a time to be a(I) scribe

Competition between AI scribe startups has been heating up, as evidence accumulates of their solutions' efficacy at reducing charting burden and preventing physician burnout. AI scribe startups are differentiating in a now crowded landscape by expanding use cases, targeting different end-users, winning on price, or consolidating to sustain competitive advantage. Kaiser Permanente’s recently announced switch from Nabla to Abridge is a reminder of the potential for low switching costs, even for relatively large health systems.

Meanwhile, Epic recently announced extensive AI scribe development partnerships and GenAI features. The prospect of EHR vendors integrating built-in AI scribe features is a hard pill to swallow for startups already facing competition and pressure to further differentiate—especially those whose core value proposition is EHR integration. We expect untapped advancements will come by way of multilingual capabilities, broader application to teams across the care continuum, and careful consideration of ethical questions.

It’s finally show time! Rock Health Summit is tomorrow, Tuesday, September 10 and we can’t wait to see you. If you’re already feeling the FOMO—good news, you can still join us virtually to learn from leading digital health innovators as they cover some of the industry’s hottest topics. Register today!

Headlines

Mental Health Startups Are Thriving In Schools
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Doctors Use Problematic Race-Based Algorithms To Guide Care Every Day
HHS rule from earlier this year only scratches the surface of biases providers should address STAT

Wegovy Reduced Covid Deaths In Obese Patients
Studies continue to demonstrate that benefits of the drug go beyond obesity and diabetes Bloomberg

UnitedHealth Pledged Hands-Off Approach, Then Upended How Doctors Practice
ProHealth providers regret acquisition, citing erosion of control and quality of care STAT

Digital Biomarkers In Agitation Detection Enhancing Care
Wearables personalize care interventions in communication-impaired neurological disorders MedCity News

Employers Don’t Want To Pay For Life-Saving Cures For Rare Diseases
Multimillion-dollar price tags for novel gene therapies drive employers to drop coverage Bloomberg

Recent Funding

  • Intelligent health benefits management platform Thatch adds $38M
  • Segmed picks up $10.4M to support AI model development using radiology imaging data