If there’s one thing the FDA loves, it’s an advisory committee.

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf outlined the agency’s plans for the new Digital Health Advisory Committee during a January 10 session at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) conference. The FDA had announced the committee in October, adding it to the agency’s list of at least 49 other advisory committees.

The FDA has said the committee will “help the agency explore the complex, scientific, and technical issues related to digital health technologies, such as artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), augmented reality, virtual reality, digital therapeutics, wearables, remote patient monitoring, and software.”

Speaking at CES, Califf clarified that the committee is designed to give the FDA advice rather than make any decisions or approve individual digital health products.

Keep reading here.—MA

Do you work in healthcare or have information about the industry that we should know? Email Maia at [email protected]. For confidential conversations, ask Maia for her number on Signal.

The most talked-about trends in the health space—precision healthcare, AI, and democratized healthcare—are here to stay. Need the scoop? The experts at GE HealthCare are laying out all the deets.

As the innovative minds at GE HealthCare explain, these healthcare breakthroughs will be the catalysts for transforming care over the next decade, enabling clinicians to guide patients toward faster and more precise diagnoses and treatments, reducing the administrative burdens, and helping healthcare systems deliver value-based care.

With better access to the information needed to provide top-quality, personalized care for each patient, clinicians are improving patient outcomes and boosting efficiency.

The best part? This is only the beginning. Get the scoop on the future of healthcare.

Healthcare systems are notoriously slow to change (hence fax machines still being used)—and hospital marketing is no exception.

Many hospitals continue to use traditional marketing tactics like billboards and newspapers. But with advances in technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and the rapid changes the healthcare industry underwent during Covid-19, hospital marketing has started to innovate and adapt to the new advertising landscape.

The future of hospital marketing may target more nontraditional media outlets like TikTok and Netflix, have a personalized approach to messaging, and use AI to target intended audiences, experts told Healthcare Brew.

“When we think about the future of healthcare, the brands that are going to be really successful are the ones that are going to be able to tie in the science—whether that’s AI or telehealth, maybe it’s innovation—and humanity,” Michael Baron, SVP and group creative director of full-service marketing agency Mower, said.

Keep reading here.—AM, MA

New year, new digital health funding landscape?

Startups in the digital health field had a hard 2023, raising a total of just $10.7 billion—the lowest figure since 2019—according to a report from digital health strategy group and venture fund Rock Health.

But experts think 2024 is going to be a transformative year, with Rock Health researchers projecting that some digital health startups will shut their doors while others will flourish.

“2024 will require some startups to face the music (raise at a reduced valuation, seek an acquisition or exit, or shut down),” the researchers wrote in the report. “While hard on teams, investors, and customers alike, these shifts can set the sector up for brighter days ahead—a smaller cohort of stronger players, synergies through consolidated offerings, and a more successful IPO class.”

Keep reading here.—MA

Level up your career with these resources from our sponsors!

• Psst! Here’s what healthcare innovators are naming the top three healthcare breakthroughs of 2024

• See how healthtech companies did in 2023—and what to expect in 2024

Today’s top healthcare reads.

Stat: The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene plans to observe 10,000 participants with long Covid to study the disease. (Fox 5 NY)

Quote: “What we noticed was a breaking point right around the 2018–2019 time frame.”—Matt Szaflarski, director of revenue cycle intelligence at billing and consulting firm Kodiak Solutions, on patients with health insurance making up over half of debtors for hospitals (The Guardian)

Read: Public health experts say the US should look to Australia for strategies to reduce the frequency of stillbirths. (ProPublica)

Check up: Democratized healthcare, precision, and AI are changing the face of the healthcare industry. Innovative minds at GE HealthCare share how they see clinicians stepping into the future with data and smart devices. Read all about it.*

^{*A message from our sponsor.}