New Book Heralds a New Era in Healthcare with Artificial Intelligence Already Transforming the Patient Experience

AI is not going to replace physicians, but physicians who use AI will replace those who don't.

MIAMI, Oct. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The new book "How AI Can Democratize Healthcare" by Michael Ferro and Robin Farmanfarmaian dives into the cutting edge of technology moving care from the clinic to where the patient is located, including their home, office, or even traveling. Predictive software, AI voice technology, and digital therapeutics are just some of the innovations detailed in this provocative new title that will shape tomorrow's future today.

Whether people are sick or well, AI-based software programs can monitor conditions in a real-world environment and can be a daily presence in someone's life, delivering personalized interventions precisely when needed. The incremental cost to provide an AI software program to each additional person is negligible so it can scale quickly, and has no geographical boundaries, making worldwide adoption almost effortless.

New ways to improve patient outcomes are in high demand and the major healthcare stakeholders are innovating to bring much needed improvements. AI advancements across Vocal Biomarkers, Remote Patient Monitoring, Digital Therapeutics, Voice Recognition, Decision Support Tools, Virtual Reality, and Predictive Care are converging together to create Ambient Healthcare Computing: the ever-present healthcare assistant that monitors, analyzes, and provides the right interventions to the right person at the right time.

Simply put, AI is revolutionizing the Where, When, What, and How people access healthcare. Legacy systems composed of trained healthcare professionals and physical clinics are a limited and expensive resource. With location removed from the equation, shifting care to the point of the patient increases access and affordability, in effect democratizing healthcare. Further, the negligible incremental cost to provide an AI-based software program per person makes AI infinitely scalable and accessible.

Healthcare tech entrepreneur and author Michael Ferro is the Founder and CEO Merrick Ventures, a Miami-based PE Firm focused on AI and democratizing healthcare. Michael has built multiple companies that he took public or were acquired for over $1B, including Merge Healthcare and Click Commerce. With the Michael and Jacqueline Ferro Foundation, he has donated millions, including $2M to Northwestern for entrepreneurship and $1M to the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA). Ferro has won more than 15 awards, including Forbes Tech's 100 Highest Rollers, the Technology Entrepreneur of the Year from Ernst & Young, and was a Nominee for an Emmy Award for Best Documentary.

Professional speaker and entrepreneur Robin Farmanfarmaian has given over 180 talks in 15 countries on technology in healthcare. As an entrepreneur, she has worked with over 20 companies in pharma, device, and AI focused on major diseases including oncology, neuro, diabetes, and more. A misdiagnosis as a teenager led to 43 hospitalizations, six major surgeries, and multiple organs removed. At age 26, Robin fired her healthcare team and took control of her health, including taking herself off high dose opioids. She rebuilt her care team, was diagnosed correctly, and went into remission overnight with the right medication. "How AI Can Democratize Healthcare" is a followup book to Robin's 2015 book, "The Patient as CEO: How Tech Empowers the Healthcare Consumer."

"Artificial Intelligence is going to very rapidly transform medicine, along with ubiquitous cameras and all kinds of sensors. If you want to understand this disruption to our healthcare, Michael and Robin will explain how this will impact you as well as positively impacting billions of lives."
— Ray Kurzweil, inventor, author, and futurist

"How AI Can Democratize Healthcare'' by Michael Ferro and Robin Farmanfarmaian is easy to read and chock-full of great examples of startups in healthcare AI. We're in the first inning of AI in healthcare, and this book points to a very exciting future. Congratulations on a great book!"
— John E. Kelly III, PhD, IBM EVP - Retired

"There is overwhelming complexity at the intersection of artificial intelligence, medical technology, human factors and regulatory context. There are almost too many new health care products, services and companies to sort through. Thankfully, How AI Can Democratize Healthcare gives us the old-fashioned sort of intelligence enhancement, clear prose, that makes our collective future both understandable and optimistic. A must read for citizens, investors and policy-makers alike."
— Bing Gordon, General Partner & Chief Product Officer, Kleiner Perkins

SOURCE Robin Farmanfarmaian