| | | | |  | | By Daniel Payne, Carmen Paun, Erin Schumaker and Ruth Reader | | Presented by |  | | | | | | | 
Smoking a joint is no crime, Donald Trump says. | AP Photo | Marijuana’s health effects will likely become easier to study no matter who’s elected president. That’s because both Vice President Kamala Harris and, now, former President Donald Trump have endorsed changing the drug’s status under federal regulation to permit greater access for researchers. Trump said as much in a post to X on Sunday, saying he would, as president, “continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug,” our Mona Zhang reports. In August, the Department of Health and Human Services concluded that marijuana should be moved from Schedule I, the category for the most dangerous drugs with no known medical uses, to Schedule III, which includes drugs not thought to pose a big risk of addiction, under the Controlled Substances Act. Harris has backed that position. In March, she said it was “absurd” that marijuana was classified the same way drugs like heroin are. Why it matters: More people use cannabis than ever before now that nearly half of states have legalized it for recreational use. But despite marijuana’s long history of use, little is known about its long-term health effects because of restrictions on studying it. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has called the need for research on health effects “urgent.” What’s next? The Drug Enforcement Administration will have the final say on whether the rescheduling occurs, but the agency is expected to go along with HHS' decision.
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Lisbon, Md. | Shawn Zeller/POLITICO | | This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Working long hours could be hazardous to your health. The Government Accountability Office, the watchdog arm of Congress, reports that 55 or more hours per week may increase the risk of stroke and heart disease. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. LIVE EVENT NEXT WEDNESDAY: The Future of Patient Care and Access -- Join us on Sept. 18, from 8:30 a.m. ET, as we dive into how health care delivery innovations fueled by AI and tech are empowering providers to focus more time and resources on patients. Watch our keynote conversation with HHS’ Micky Tripathi, assistant secretary for technology policy and acting chief artificial intelligence officer. Stick around for a panel conversation with Nancy Howell Agee, CEO of Carilion Clinic; Andrea Downing, president and co-founder of The Light Collective; Kolaleh Eskandanian, VP and chief innovation officer of Children’s National Hospital; and Hafeezah Muhammad, founder and CEO of Backpack Healthcare. RSVP to attend and watch here.
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Some doctors still prefer the paper method. | AFP via Getty Images | Developers of artificial intelligence tools for health care are finding they need to do more than just ensure the accuracy of their technical models. They also need to ensure that doctors find them helpful. “The models are good enough,” Dr. Joshua Reischer, CEO and founder of Health Note, which makes AI-powered documentation software for providers, told Daniel. “So what’s the work now? … It’s designing for people.” How so? Reischer said the large language models in use are typically about 90 percent accurate, but there’s more variation in usability. And Reischer is finding that firms like his have work to do both in learning what doctors want and in convincing them that AI tools will help. Health Note, for instance, tested a tool that automates the note-taking process for doctors and offers them a simple way to use AI to refine their notes: All they need to do is hit an “improve note” button. Only 50 percent of clinicians pressed it, suggesting doctors didn’t trust that the tool would improve their notes, they didn’t need it or they didn’t have the time to experiment with the technology. “They don’t have the time to learn anything new; they’re bombarded by too many other things,” Reischer said. “What we’re really trying to solve here and differentiate is making something that actually brings value to the physician.” That work has led him to think about making documentation tools that could be used across a huge number of provider preferences and specialty needs without sacrificing ease of use. Even so: Reischer hopes the technology will become enmeshed in the health system so most doctors are comfortable using it — not just the early adopters. “I think in five years,” he said, “it’s going to be a different story.”
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A vote in Rodgers' panel could propel a bill to extend telehealth for Medicare patients toward enactment. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | Medicare patients who like their telehealth might get to keep it. The House Energy and Commerce Committee will likely mark up legislation next week that would extend the temporary rules enacted during the pandemic so those patients can continue to use virtual care, three lobbyists told our Ben Leonard on Wednesday. Why it matters: The legislation, a version of the Telehealth Modernization Act from Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), would extend the eased virtual care rules for another two years and includes several offsets to cover the expected increased cost to Medicare. It advanced out of the panel’s Health Subcommittee in a 21-0 vote in May. If it becomes law, the measure would extend hospital-at-home waivers for five years and provide payment parity for federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics for in-person and virtual care. Even so: The new markup plan could still change, given the turmoil in the House over a pending deadline to pass legislation to keep the government funded. An Energy and Commerce GOP spokesperson declined to comment on the markup. But Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) has said the bill is a priority. What’s next? A markup would set the stage for House passage of the bill, most likely in the year-end funding package. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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