On Fridays, we schedule our rounds with Healthcare Brew readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.
This week’s Making Rounds spotlights Matt Eakins, president of digital health analytics platform Lucina. Eakins talked about the work his team is doing to increase access to women’s healthcare and reduce racial disparities in maternal health outcomes.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in healthcare?
I have the privilege of leading Lucina, a business division of Unified Women’s Healthcare that is dedicated to helping all women have the best healthcare in the world. Lucina has created a digital health platform with proprietary technology that helps increase equity in maternity outcomes.
How does the platform work?
Lucina uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify pregnant patients who are at risk for preterm births. We start with extremely large health datasets and deploy mining algorithms to look for the signals for a pregnant person who could be considered at risk. There are some 3,000 signals we’re looking for.
In a nutshell, we’re helping families start off on the right foot. We’re reducing preterm births, and are also seeing some extremely promising numbers in our research when it comes to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission risk and length of stay.
How does the platform help increase equity in maternal health outcomes?
Unfortunately in this country, communities of color are most unfairly bearing the burden of the maternal health crisis. By shining a light on those invisible problems and bringing them to the healthcare system in a way that’s accessible and inviting, what we have seen is that there have been some of the most dramatic improvements in population health for those communities of color.
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Who buys your platform?
Lucina’s principal customers are managed care organizations, health plans, or governments looking to improve the health of their baby-and-mom population in their respective states.
What’s the most fulfilling aspect of your job?
Since my early days as a medical student, I’ve always been excited about obstetrical care. I think a lot of that stems from the innocence and potential of a new life in this world. For me, it’s a lot about ensuring that every person, regardless of their circumstances or what’s been going on in their family or their community, has an opportunity to be successful in this world. To me, that’s what Lucina and Unified Women’s Healthcare represent, in that everyone can start off on the right foot.
What healthcare trend are you most optimistic about and why?
We are in the early innings of AI’s application to healthcare. Out of all industries, healthcare could have the most to gain through the application of machine learning in the newest revolution in generative AI. Generative AI promises to do three things well: synthesis, authorship, and assistance. All three can unlock a lot of potential for physicians and patients as they navigate increasingly complex and challenging situations. I believe we are at the eve of a tech revolution in healthcare driven by advances in generative AI.
What healthcare trend are you least optimistic about and why?
Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report about the disturbing trend of maternal mortality over the past two years in our country and the way it’s impacting women. Sadly, it’s disproportionately affecting families of color. It’s extremely disheartening to hear this, but in that challenge lies the opportunity and the need for companies like Lucina to make a difference for moms and babies.