The Role of AI in Medication Management

Medication management is taking a big role in health care today and at HIMSS for several reasons. More medications are coming on the market, providing impressively successful treatments for many conditions. More people of all ages are taking more medications. And specialty medications, which are very expensive, are also burgeoning.

In this video, we hear some current expert perspectives on medication management, including the roles of automation and AI, from Dr. Michael Blackman, Chief Medical Officer at Greenway Health, and Dr. Colin Banas, Chief Medical Officer at DrFirst.

Banas said that nowadays, given all the new drugs, interactions, and changes in indicated uses, it’s impossible for a doctor to keep up with everything needed to prescribe safely and accurately. AI can help, but the final decision must be made by a human. Blackman promoted an “automated healthcare practice” that benefits from ambient documentation, but he said that AI is not yet ready for clinical decision-making, but it can be used for decision support.

Automated systems, Blackman suggested, can help doctors choose a diagnosis that ensures authorization will be granted, or even allows them to avoid prior authorization altogether.

Banas was bullish on artificial intelligence, saying that they were seeking an “AI-first culture” at DrFirst and its clients. He pointed out that AI-designed models depend on being fed lots of patient data, and therefore depend on interoperability. He was wary about the health care industry’s progress on interoperability, though, saying that he has his “fingers crossed” since there’s still plenty of work to be done in this area.

Both doctors dealt with the highly visible issue of high costs, and particularly the difficulty of finding out what a payer will cover. Banas pointed to a “transparency problem” and said the industry is seeking real-time information where the patient can find out what the payer covers and even where to get the best price while still meeting with the physician.

Learn more about Greenway Health: https://www.greenwayhealth.com/

Learn more about DrFirst: https://drfirst.com/

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