Innovations Continue to Optimize Patient Care

MUCH HAS BEEN said about provider burnout in recent years. Too many patients; too little time; too few resources. Physicians are burned out, and patients are too. But healthcare continues to evolve and adapt, increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) to do so.

Tired of long waits for short encounters in which they feel rushed, dismissed or both, patients are taking healthcare into their own hands. But, as we discuss in our article “ChatGPT: Optimizing Patient Care,” AI is changing how physicians deliver care. They are increasingly turning to AI tools to help them make patient care more efficient, accurate and understandable, freeing them up to focus on the patient instead of the many administrative tasks that impede upon their time.

AI is changing the way patients receive care, too. As we discuss in our article “NextGeneration Primary Care: How ‘Going to the Doctor’ Is Changing,” patients are learning how both their genetics and their choices affect their health, and they are using AI and other technological tools to help inform their day-to-day decisions. Physicians are using AI and other technologies to stay connected with patients, better understand patient health data and enhance their own medical knowledge.

Interest in the interplay between genetics and health continues to rise, both in terms of preventive medicine and precision medicine. As our article “How Gene Therapy Is Curing Diseases” observes, the dream of developing therapies to treat patients with otherwise incurable genetic diseases is becoming a reality: As of this writing, there are 38 gene therapies approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and many more in the pipeline. While the challenges of cost and delivery remain, this article highlights four newly FDA-approved treatments that illustrate the promise gene therapies hold for this patient population.

Several new FDA approvals are cause for celebration in women’s health, too. Menopause is a perennial source of discomfort and declining quality of life for many women, but today more than ever, women have many therapeutic options that may help ease its symptoms. Our article “Innovations in Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy” (p.36) takes a closer look at this equivocal therapy and the growing interest in it. And, our article “Advances in Treating Menopause” lays out many other viable therapeutic options and emphasizes the importance of medical oversight during each phase of menopause, particularly during postmenopause when womens’ risk for osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease goes up.

As always, we hope you enjoy the additional articles in this issue of BioSupply Trends Quarterly, and find them both relevant and helpful to your practice.