Jeremy Orr, MD, MPH: Disparities of AI Use During COVID-19

Jeremy Orr, MD, MPH

Racial inequalities exist in healthcare, as they do in many other aspects of life. Geographic location plays a large in whether patients are able to access high quality care.

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, these inequalities still exist. Only certain health systems have been able to leverage powerful technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to improve patient outcomes, Jeremy Orr, MD, MPH, chief executive officer of Medial EarlySign, said in a recent interview with HCPLive®.

The health systems benefitting from the technology are those who were early adopters and those that are culturally forward-thinking.

There is an ongoing trend that those that are high-performing and have their incentives aligned with a payer-provider set up and own the risk for a large population of patients are better off. That’s because they are incentivized to give their patients the best possible and most efficient care.

“We have to do more to have more organizations bear the long-term risks for their patients and move on from fee-for-service to fee-for-value and treat for health not profit from disease,” Orr said.

Health systems that are set up for that have better IT system, have better culture around them, and are doing the best, he added.

To hear more from Orr, watch the clip below.