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Presented by Walmart: The ideas and innovators shaping health care | | | | |  | | By Erin Schumaker, Ben Leonard, Carmen Paun and Evan Peng | Presented by Walmart | | | | | |  Ehrenfeld doesn't expect AI will put him out of a job. | AP | The new president of the American Medical Association, Jesse Ehrenfeld, expects artificial intelligence to transform the practice of medicine. But he doesn't see it as a threat to his job. “It is clear to me that AI will never replace physicians — but physicians who use AI will replace those who don't,” Ehrenfeld, who has a background in informatics and digital health, told POLITICO's Daniel Payne. AI is unlikely to take over doctors’ roles of diagnosing and treating most diseases, Ehrenfeld said, but it will
make doctors more efficient and accurate. Use cases: One tool, which scans for diabetic retinopathy, could help prevent blindness in more patients, he said. The device could be set up in primary care offices or pharmacies — not only making it more accessible but also allowing ophthalmologists to see patients who only need treatments, not just those who need screenings. And AI will help on the administrative end of medicine. “There’s a lot of interest in using these tools to reduce the busy work that doctors are stuck doing today,” he said. “I can’t tell you how frustrating it is when I get turned from a highly trained physician into a data entry clerk.” Government's role: Ehrenfeld said regulations are needed to protect patients if AI is to reach its full potential. He suggested AI in health, if not properly regulated, could be like the computer programs on Boeing 737 Max airplanes that overrode pilots, causing two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019 before the problem was corrected. “We cannot make that same mistake in health care,” he said. “If I, as a physician, am going to supervise and correct AI, I have to know that it’s there. I have to understand the outputs it’s producing. I have to be able to step in if something happens.”
| | A message from Walmart: Nearly 133 million Americans live with a chronic condition who need accessible, affordable medication to help them stay healthy. Walmart pharmacies offer prescriptions for medications that treat heart disease, diabetes and high cholesterol starting at $4 per month. With 90% of the U.S. population living within 10 miles of a Walmart store or pharmacy, Walmart is increasing the accessibility of services and medications that help millions of Americans live a little better. Learn more. | | | | | | | 
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico | Ben Leonard | | This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to investigate influencer Logan Paul’s energy drink PRIME, which has 200 mg of caffeine — about twice as much as an 8 ounce cup of coffee. The New York Democrat is concerned the drink is aimed at kids. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Ben Leonard at bleonard@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. Today on our Pulse Check podcast, host Kelly Hooper talks with Robert King about President Joe Biden's bid to crack down on short-term, limited health coverage that he calls “junk insurance," but proponents back as cheaper options for younger adults.
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Hackers have found health care executives are often willing to pay their ransoms. | Sean Gallup/Getty Images | Health care’s data security problem is getting worse fast. Health care entities covered by the federal health privacy law HIPAA have reported more than 330 breaches affecting 41.4 million people to HHS’ Office for Civil Rights through Monday, already closing in on 2022’s total of more than 52 million, according to a POLITICO analysis of the most recent Health and Human Services Department data. Among the breaches, hackers accessed 8.9 million people’s data at Managed Care of North America, which offers dental plans, and 5.8 millions’ at pharmacy firm PharMerica. Why it’s happening: Ransomware that shuts down health sector computers is lucrative for cybercriminals because provider organizations can feel compelled to pay the hackers to continue giving care. The targets are growing as health data goes increasingly digital as the sector modernizes. Even so: The swell of breach reports may go beyond hacking. It also could be at least partly the result of health care organizations coming clean about sharing customer or patient data for marketing. Earlier this year, numerous health care organizations acknowledged they were in violation of December guidance from the Office for Civil Rights that expanded the definition of personally identifiable information and restricted the use of some marketing technology.
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Blinken warned fellow foreign ministers that their countries aren't immune from the fentanyl threat. | AP | | | “If we don’t act together with fierce urgency, more communities around the world will bear the catastrophic costs that are already affecting so many American cities, so many American towns.” – Secretary of State Antony Blinken | | America’s opioid addiction crisis might become yours if we don’t work together to combat drug trafficking, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told fellow foreign ministers at a virtual meeting launching the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats on Friday. “Having saturated the United States market, transnational criminal enterprises are turning elsewhere to expand their profits,” Blinken said. Across the pond: The European Union is starting to see some of this, according to Ylva Johansson, the European commissioner for home affairs, who spoke at the meeting. “New synthetic opioids constantly appear in the European market: 74 different times in the last 14 years, and more and more they are produced in the European Union, as demonstrated by the more than 400 drug laboratories dismantled in one year alone,” she said. The 27-country bloc has seen a rise in violence, she said, calling organized crime as big a threat as terrorism. Johansson echoed a warning from Catherine De Bolle, the head of the EU law enforcement agency Europol, who told POLITICO recently that EU leaders need to fight drug-related crime if they don’t want their democracies undermined. And in Asia: South Korea, which once prided itself as a drug-free country, has also seen an increase in drug consumption and drug-related offenses among youth, said South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Park Jin.
|  | | Even so: The most important empty seat at the virtual table belonged to China, which was invited but didn’t participate. Chemicals used to manufacture illicit fentanyl are largely shipped from Chinese suppliers to Mexican drug cartels, according to U.S. authorities. Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Carmen in an email that China was ready to work with the U.S. and other countries to fight illicit drugs, but slammed the U.S. for sanctioning Chinese companies, indicting Chinese nationals and arresting two of them in Fiji, which Liu called an abduction. “The U.S. side, instead of reflecting on itself for being the root cause of its drug problems, has resorted to grossly sanctioning other countries in an attempt to mislead the public and deflect the blame for its inaction,” Liu wrote. What’s next? Representatives of each country that joined the U.S-led coalition will meet in person during the United Nations General Assembly in September to assess progress in three areas where the countries agreed to work together: preventing illicit drug manufacturing and trafficking, detecting new drug threats and promoting appropriate health responses.
| | A message from Walmart: Walmart is on a mission to transform the cost and convenience of healthcare in communities across the country. By increasing the accessibility of services and medications for customers with heart disease, diabetes and more, Walmart helps millions of Americans live a little better:
● Walmart pharmacies offer prescriptions for medications that treat heart disease, diabetes, cholesterol and more, starting at just $4 per month
● Walmart provides healthcare access to over 4,000 HRSA designated medically underserved areas
● 90% of the U.S. population lives within 10 miles of Walmart store or pharmacy
With nearly 133 million Americans living with a chronic condition, Walmart’s mission is to help people save money and “live better” by committing to making healthcare more accessible, convenient and affordable for customers in the communities they serve.
Learn more about Walmart’s commitment to Health & Wellness. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
