Kenya gets AI mental health screenings

The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Jun 11, 2024 View in browser   By Toni Odejimi, Daniel Payne and Ruth Reader WORLD VIEW Kenya-based Thalia Psychotherapy is tapping AI to bring mental health services to Africa. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images Google is assisting health startups to develop artificial intelligence technologies. It’s one of the tech giant’s Growth Academy initiative called AI and Health, a three-month program that chooses startups from Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The startups get Google mentors and AI experts who work one-on-one with the companies and continue to assist them after the program ends. A startup’s story: One winner is Thalia Psychotherapy, a Kenya-based company that uses AI to bring mental health services, including screenings, to Kenyans and other African countries. Dennis Mwangi, managing partner for Thalia Psychotherapy, said the company was created out of the traumatic experiences of police officers dealing with the Somalia-based militant group, Al-Shabaab. Initially catering just to the police, it expanded to the general public in 2016. “Ideally, we want the 1.2 to 1.3 billion Africans to be screened for mental health at some point in their life,” Mwangi told Toni. What’s next? Google is connecting startups like Thalia Psychotherapy with other participating startups so they can learn from one another. The cohort just had their first in-person meeting in France.   THE GOLD STANDARD OF HEALTHCARE POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries, like healthcare, equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists. Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced and better sourced than any other. Our healthcare reporting team—including Alice Miranda Ollstein, Megan Messerly and Robert King—is embedded with the market-moving legislative committees and agencies in Washington and across states, delivering unparalleled coverage of health policy and the healthcare industry. We bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY.     WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Another pandemic could sneak up on us, researchers warn. Patients experiencing flu-like symptoms and itchy eyes may have the latest bird flu, but doctors don’t have a way to test them. While a diagnostic does exist, the CDC is only making it available to people who work with livestock. What do you think? Should the CDC cut the red tape and open up access to the test? EXAM ROOM Arine says it can save insurers money by using AI to match patients with medications and proper dosages. | Getty Advanced artificial intelligence systems are making sure doctors prescribe the right medications to their patients. Why’s that? AI systems can take in vast amounts of data about best practices and patients’ circumstances to estimate whether a different medication or dose could help. “How does a human sort through that and get it right every time?” Yoona Kim, CEO of Arine, which is based in San Francisco and makes a “medication intelligence” product, told Daniel in explaining how AI can help. Arine, founded in 2017, uses a system that looks at doctors’ drug choices, dosages, interactions and duplicate prescriptions, flagging concerning findings to care providers. The company counts Medicaid, Medicare and commercial plans among its customers. Why it matters: Arine’s pitch to insurers is that its product will save them money by ensuring patients are on the proper medications in the correct doses, avoiding more costly care down the line.   JOIN US ON 6/13 FOR A TALK ON THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE: As Congress and the White House work to strengthen health care affordability and access, innovative technologies and treatments are increasingly important for patient health and lower costs. What barriers are appearing as new tech emerges? Is the Medicare payment process keeping up with new technologies and procedures? Join us on June 13 as POLITICO convenes a panel of lawmakers, officials and experts to discuss what policy solutions could expand access to innovative therapies and tech. REGISTER HERE.     FUTURE THREATS Microsoft and Google are fighting back against cyberattacks by offering free and discounted services. | Adam Berry/Getty Images Microsoft and Google have committed to offering discounted cybersecurity services to rural health systems as the White House National Security Council seeks to address security gaps. Microsoft offers free and heavily discounted services for qualifying health systems. It’s also offering free security assessments and training for staff and updates on Windows 10. Meanwhile, Google has promised to consult health systems on end-point security. Around 2,000 health systems are eligible for the services. Why it matters: Cyberattacks on health systems increased by 128 percent between 2022 and 2023, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Rural health offices are particularly at risk. The health systems are small, treat sick patients with limited ability to pay and have difficulty keeping up with rising business costs. As a result, they sometimes lack the necessary protections and are frequently targeted by hackers, according to a 2020 report from cybersecurity firm RiskIQ. What’s next: The American Hospital Association and the National Rural Health Association are working with health systems to connect them to the tech companies’ cybersecurity resources.   Follow us on Twitter Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker   Follow us

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