What’s the best way to tell people you work in tech, not in healthcare, without telling them? CarePod! While people argue about when AI will destroy humanity, things like this continue to steamroll forward. Everyone seems to be having a good ole time messing around, but trust me, the find out stage isn’t far behind. It’s Friday, and I’m feeling extra spicy, so let’s dive in. 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️

Tech Bro Tries to Be Healthcare Bro

Okay, this CarePod article has me spun up even more than the Martin Shkreli Dr. Gupta nonsense. I think because I don’t believe anyone would take Shkreli all that seriously, CarePod is something else and has a presentation that looks more serious, kind of like putting a Ferrari body kit on your Pontiac Fiero.

No, I’m not spun up about the application of AI to healthcare scenarios. AI has a lot of potential in healthcare use cases, and we could absolutely see positive results when done properly and applied to the right use cases. This would be done in cooperation with humans and technology. There’s a sweet spot here that’s complimentary, and there are things to be hopeful about.

I’m spun up about the tech bro optimization nonsense. This mindset is absolutely in conflict with progress. Make no mistake, when these things fail, it will have larger effects on AI in healthcare as a whole. See the quote below.

“Basically, what I’m doing is slowly migrating every single thing from a doctor and nurse to hardware and software,” he said. “We don’t even believe a doctor’s office should exist. We think that it’s a thing of the past.” - Adrian Aoun

🤦‍♂️ This is exactly why people think tech bros are out of touch with reality. Read that again. He thinks doctors and Nurses are irrelevant and they shouldn’t exit. He thinks we are living in the year 2175 or something. Maybe then it would be true, but not with today’s technology and not fast enough to catch up with the use case they are posing. Maybe I’m the only one, but I don’t want ChatGPT to be my doctor.

Jokes aside, what happens if this system detects something serious? Who are you going to send them to? Does the system say, “Sorry bro, ya got cancer?” How do you get a second opinion? How do you get a referral to a specialist when you aren’t a real healthcare provider? Most importantly, what about when the system is wrong? The list goes on and on.

There’s a problem with turning every human problem into an optimization problem. In doing so, you lose sight of the point.

There’s a problem with turning every human problem into an optimization problem. In doing so, you lose sight of the point. Healthcare is an incredibly human and personal activity that extends far beyond providing a clinical diagnosis. Distilling these activities down into just the diagnosis part is ignorant of the field as well as the goals.

Healthcare is also filled with edge cases, the same cases that AI’s aren’t good at. It’s easy to see how a combination of humans and technology could result in better outcomes because the strengths of one address the weaknesses of the other. Not having one replace the other.

“We’re using AI to read the research, pull out the care plans, and deliver it to consumers.” - Adrian Aoun

Oh, GTFO. Let me get this straight: This guy thinks doctors and nurses are irrelevant because you can parse papers and medical texts and do some generations like creating care plans. My face hurts from facepalming so much. This is not only delusional, it’s dangerous. It’s like thinking you’re a doctor because you have WebMD. Medical conditions are a thicket of symptoms that can be the same or damn near similar to each other. Hell, even lab tests can be gray areas and have margins of error. Navigating this is much harder than self-driving cars, and we haven’t even conquered them yet.

The Spies Like Us Moment

This reminds me of the movie Spies Like Us, where Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase have to fake being doctors. They try to do an appendectomy by reading a medical text. After misunderstanding the meaning of “shaving the patient” and a “hallucination” by Dan Aykroyd where, after almost cutting into the patient’s chest, he claims, “I merely probing to determine muscle tone and skeletal girth.” Punctuating it with, “We mock what we don’t understand.” Again, after almost cutting into the patient in the wrong spot and being guided to the right spot by the actual doctors, the patient dies on the operating table.

We are being presented with technology that is supposed to be Star Trek and getting a reality that is more like Spies Like Us. However, even in Star Trek, doctors were still stationed in the med bay.

We are being presented with technology that is supposed to be Star Trek and getting a reality that is more like Spies Like Us.

Healthcare Has Real Problems

There is no shortage of healthcare problems, and access is certainly one of them. Healthcare costs in the United States are astronomical. Many can’t afford their medications or regular doctor or specialist visits. There’s a long list. Of course, anyone who’s ever done Teledoc knows that, at times, it can be only slightly better than ChatGPT with the ability to write prescriptions. So, I get it. There are real problems here that we need to address, but most of these aren’t really tech problems. And CarePod isn’t addressing the most important issues.

Many things, such as checking your vitals, refilling perceptions, and certain lab work, are relatively low risk and don’t require much intervention. However, there’s a monumental leap from looking at this and saying, “Doctors and nurses are irrelevant,” just because you used Teledoc to refill a prescription or swabbed your nose for a test. That’s learning the wrong lesson, but the world appears filled with automation nails when you have an AI hammer.

The world appears filled with automation nails when you have an AI hammer

Scheduling an appointment with your family care provider can be an issue, depending on your geographic location and other factors, but it’s hardly the biggest issue. This seems to be what CarePod is largely addressing. It may lower costs a bit for tests and such, but these are hardly where the expenses come from healthcare in the US. You have prescription prices, specialist visits, as well as ongoing visits for more chronic conditions that add up quickly. Remember, CarePod is outside of insurance and doesn’t address the biggest costs and issues. You can have CarePod and still go broke if you have a chronic condition.

On another note, It’s interesting how they’ve turned a real doctor into a glorified button pusher regarding prescriptions. They say the prescription is available almost immediately, so they are also trying to “optimize” this step. How much time is the doctor given to review, and will this time be tracked and targeted to get it reduced? We know how this ends, with peeing in a water bottle instead of bathroom breaks. I wouldn’t put my medical license on the line for this.

In a world filled with automation optimism and automation bias, I think healthcare is still one of those areas where people like the idea of having a human in the loop. I know, so outdated!

Perverse Incentives

I can’t help but feel there are some perverse incentives at play. They claim they aren’t selling your data, well, in the short term, that is. Neither was 23andMe until they did. This is also a startup, so when and if it gets acquired, that organization will have access to this data. In the end, this might be part of the goal. Be valuable because of your data, not your service. All the military-grade encryption in the world doesn’t address LexisNexis buying your healthcare provider.

On top of this, why add the AI? The non-ai use cases can be helpful if your goal is to provide more access to care. Even my Publix shopping center has a blood pressure cuff and a scale. People use them all the time and find them helpful, and no AI is involved. Extending some services they provide without all of the AI nonsense would be extending care to people, but I guess you couldn’t wave the AI flag to attract funding.

Nobody wants to fund making things better. People want to fund revolutions. Bunting can get you on base, but everyone wants to swing for the fences when most people will strike out. Baseball analogies aside, it’s hard to see the end goal here. They don’t take insurance (because insurance wouldn’t cover it), it’s $99 a month for a subscription, and it’s hard to determine who exactly the customer is.

“Adrian Aoun is quick to explain that he’s not a medical doctor. He’s a computer scientist specializing in AI.” - Adrian Aoun

Yeah, we got that bro. You didn’t need to tell us. Oh well, I can’t wait till they release the CarePod colonoscopy! I’m sure it will be great. Rant complete. Enjoy your weekend.

Updates

November 13, 2024 – Removed the link to the YouTube Video since it no longer works.

November 13, 2024 – This healthcare startup is shutting it’s doors. Who would have guessed that? https://www.businessinsider.com/healthcare-startup-forward-shutdown-carepod-adrian-aoun-2024-11

"⁠⁠Meanwhile, the technical problems mounted. Automated blood draws routinely failed. Lab test offerings were withdrawn. And patients kept getting trapped inside the CarePods."

Seems like my Spies Like Us joke was on point, unless you think physically trapping your customers in your hellbox is a great business case.