Hot Topic: Trending HEALTHCARE INNOVATION news from the past few weeks

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has cleared North Carolina-based Novant Health to use unmanned aerial vehicles for transporting PPE and other medical supplies without human-to-human contact.

The World Economic Forum has released its 2020 list of 100 tech companies from which to expect big things. Seven of the 100 are in healthcare and, of these, three are based in the U.S.

The Midwestern Catholic health system Hospital Sisters is working with an AI startup to block overutilization of surgical services.

A developer of software used in orthopedic surgery has demonstrated the utility of AI-aided fluoroscopy guidance for operating on orthopedic trauma patients.

AI companies serving healthcare markets have been fast to tailor their work to the COVID-19 crisis. An opinion piece published by the World Economic Forum offers a sampling.

Researchers have successfully piloted the use of augmented reality for guiding tumor ablation, completing the treatment in five patients with cancers of the liver.

Healthcare AI companies of all sizes need patient data to design their products and make their fortunes. Big healthcare providers have the data and need the tech partners to help advance modern medicine.

Higher research and development costs are driving a need for pharmaceutical companies to leverage AI to optimize the drug discovery process––and some companies are doing so better than others.

What the five have in common are software products aimed at helping providers improve patient engagement by leveraging AI. The recognized companies also meet IDC’s criteria for having revenues below $100 million.

The COVID crisis has driven mental-health issues into the medical matrix at the population level. AI may be able to help.