Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made its way into healthcare, from note-taking to voice agents. Conversations around liability and legislation are already happening, and there’s no doubt that AI is starting to change how care is delivered.

Already 75% of big healthcare companies are “experimenting with or planning to scale generative AI across the enterprise,” according to Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.

But less discussed are the potential downsides of this new technology. Just as the implementation of electronic medical records brought pros and cons—like easier collaboration across departments, but more time at the computer—it’s likely AI will see a similar varied trajectory.

“There’s vast amounts of marketing hype [around AI], compared to the actual clinical proof,” James Barlow, a professor at Imperial College Business School in London, told Healthcare Brew. “How do you as a company or developer actually build up an evidence base for the claims you’re making?”

We spoke with experts about the potential challenges AI presents to healthcare, and how the industry can best guard itself against them.

Read on for what experts advise.—CM

Are you curious about all the ways that multimillion-dollar medtech can go wrong?

If so, you’re in the right place!Welcome to Recall Roundup, a noncomprehensive roundup of recent FDA Class I recalls—the most severe and potentially life-threatening kind. Recalls range from correcting an issue to removing a device from the market altogether.

With that, let’s get into it!

Blood products administration set recall. Fresenius Kabi has pulled an incorrectly assembled line of its Ivenix LVP Blood Products Administration Set. If used, patients could be infused with unfiltered blood.

Here’s our full list.—CC

Benefits leaders are under pressure to manage rising costs at their organizations.

And as Freddie Mercury sang in Queen’s famous song with David Bowie: “it never rains, but it pours.” Years of increased spending in the healthcare sector coupled with the possibility of a global recession mean that total rewards leaders are dealing with challenges on multiple fronts.

Rising benefit costs were the top issue influencing US employers’ benefit strategies this year, with 90% of respondents citing this factor, up from 67% in 2023, according to a recent report from advisory and brokerage firm WTW. Costs have since eclipsed competition for talent and focus on inclusion and diversity, which were the top issues when WTW did the same study in 2023 and 2021, respectively.

Over the last year or so, US healthcare spending has been rising at the fastest rate in two decades, according to the American Medical Association. That could be due to factors such as innovation, provider consolidation, and the role of intermediaries like pharmacy-benefit managers, said Jeff Levin-Scherz, population health leader with WTW and an assistant professor at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. As a result, “employers are paying much more attention to total cost.”

Keep reading on HR Brew here.—CV

The Affordable Care Act transformed healthcare for millions, but huge federal budget cuts now threaten its future. What’s next for Medicaid, marketplace subsidies, and millions of insured Americans? Dive into the political battles and policy changes that could reshape access to care across the US.