Blog

Jun

When considering the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, speed is often the first benefit that springs to mind. And, of course, AI undeniably accelerates the diagnostic process when compared to human counterparts like a PharmD. But the real benefits of AI extend far beyond mere speed. It is also more accurate. It is more precise. It doesn’t fatigue. It works weekends.

Patient-specific precision, data-backed accuracy, and round-the-clock reliability—at Arkstone, that’s where we believe medicine is going.

Read on to see how the true value of AI for healthcare extends far beyond speed, to the deeper advantages AI can provide: reliability and consistency upon which we’re creating powerful clinical tools that revolutionize diagnostic and decision-making support.

Accuracy: The Consistency Factor

Clinicians often hold a variety of opinions, with different doctors potentially recommending various management approaches for the same disease. This is where AI offers one of its greatest advantages: consistent accuracy derived from data-driven sources. With access to a vast amount of data, AI can deliver recommendations that remain consistent. By relying on evidence and literature, AI systems assist medical professionals in aligning their decisions with a standardized approach.

This consistency ensures that data-backed patient care remains at the forefront and reduces the challenges that can arise from varying opinions and inconsistencies among healthcare providers. And by referencing trusted sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), AI ensures that the information and recommendations remain reliable over time. With AI, healthcare professionals can rely on objective sources and base care decisions on the latest and most current data.

Precision: Patient-Specificity, Minimizing Errors

Delivering top-notch patient care requires clinical tools capable of addressing the specific needs of each individual. Unlike traditional lab reports that only offer a static view of test results, Arkstone technology provides personalized treatment plans, including dosages and duration, tailored to meet the unique requirements of every patient.

Arkstone also offers interactive tools that allow healthcare professionals to cross-check for potential drug interactions, calculate appropriate dosage determination, and make dosing adjustments for patients with renal or hepatic dysfunction. These additional features enhance the precision and accuracy of our clinical support tools, empowering providers to deliver patient-specific care.

AI systems have proven to be remarkably reliable, with significantly fewer errors compared to human professionals. Used effectively, AI-powered tools can establish a solid foundation for decision-making and guide providers to follow established standards of care, which can minimize risky practices based on unsupported approaches and significantly reduce the occurrence of medical errors, misdiagnoses, and unfavorable outcomes.

Availability: Constant Support

Imagine a system that can function around the clock to support healthcare providers. We all know healthcare emergencies can happen anytime, and having AI systems in place enables instant access to diagnostic assistance and decision-making tools, whenever needed. This continuous availability can make delays waiting for results analysis a thing of the past.

AI's impact on healthcare extends far beyond speed. We’re using AI’s accuracy, precision, and constant availability to redefine diagnostic support and clinical decision-making.

The ultimate outcome of using AI-powered clinical tools? Not only can they streamline the decision-making process, but they can also encourage healthcare professionals to adopt an evidence-based approach. Leveraging AI in this way encourages medical decisions rooted in scientific research and data.

It is clear that AI's role in healthcare is not just about speed but about transforming the way we deliver accurate, precise, and reliable care. And embracing AI not only supports better patient outcomes, but also mitigates risks and opens up new avenues for innovation. In this way, AI becomes a powerful ally for healthcare providers.

AI makes evidence-based medicine possible

AI's impact on healthcare extends far beyond speed. We’re using AI’s accuracy, precision, and constant availability to redefine diagnostic support and clinical decision-making.

The precise, data-supported analysis today’s providers require. Only from Arkstone.

Arkstone’s AI-backed technology offers unparalleled speed, accuracy, and scalability, enabling healthcare providers toward informed, data-driven treatment decisions.

The Arkstone process reduces analysis time to minutes, significantly minimizing the risk of human error, and incorporates continuous learning to align with the latest medical standards.

Treatment plans are always based on current drug labeling and FDA guidelines

Every recommendation has been approved by a human clinician

Reach out to Arkstone today to learn how your lab can offer the gold standard in decision-making support.

Jun

June 6, 2023

David Gross

Dr. Ari Frenkel Presents at the 23rd Public Meeting of the PACCARB

On March 23, 2023, Dr. Ari Frenkel participated in the 23rd Public Meeting of the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria. PACCARB provides advice, information, and recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services regarding programs and policies intended to support and evaluate the implementation of U.S. government activities related to combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Below is a transcript of Dr. Frenkel's comments and presentation, as well as links to recordings of the meeting.

Ari Frenkel, M.D., of Arkstone Medical Solutions said that addressing the gap in antimicrobial stewardship is paramount. He reported seeing firsthand the overutilization of antimicrobials in rural America. Statistics are alarming; for example, most U.S. counties do not have access to infectious disease specialists, and only a fraction of health care providers are infectious disease specialists. Therefore, the use of technology to bring evidence-based medicine into practice is ever more important. During his time as a solo infectious disease physician in private practice, Dr. Frenkel was the only infectious disease doctor in two large counties, serving approximately 150,000 people spread across three hospitals. Throughout the United States, access to essential expertise is lacking, and community needs far outweigh the ability to deliver care. Just as society has embraced technology for communication, transportation, and information, technology can be used fight AMR. However, there is considerable pushback to technology by health care providers and systems. Dr. Frenkel said he is committed to improving the lives of others and reducing suffering. He encouraged everyone to think of technology as a tool to enhance the ability to treat infections and embrace it as a mechanism of extending care and expertise with boundless possibilities.

https://youtu.be/M8xzF59_kms?t=993

Dr. Frenkel's Public Comment begins at 16:33

Ari Frenkel, M.D., of Arkstone Medical Solutions pointed out that antimicrobial stewardship programs are limited to academic centers and well-resourced facilities, but according to CDC, 90 percent of antibiotic prescriptions occur in the outpatient setting, where antimicrobial stewardship is lacking. Skilled nursing facilities are required to have stewardship programs, but they account for less than half a percent of the total population, making little impact on antibiotic usage. Arkstone’s decision-making software employs technology (OneChoice) that uses electronically transmitted laboratory results, artificial intelligence, and an extensive database of AMR data to formulate a patient-specific plan for infection treatment that provides targeted recommendations, factoring in the patient’s age, allergies, pregnancy status, diagnosis, and the sample source, as well as resistance and the organism detected. In practice, limited knowledge or experience can lead clinicians to choose the wrong drug, the wrong dose, or the wrong duration or even to treat microbes that are colonizers or possible contaminants. With Arkstone, physicians order the laboratory results, as usual, and Arkstone generates the OneChoice report automatically, so the physician receives the recommendation with the laboratory result instantaneously, with a clear treatment regimen that includes the optimal drug, dosage, and duration to treat the infection with the least chance of adverse reaction. Dr. Frenkel said that OneChoice recognizes commonly pathogenic microbes based on the sample source and often recommends no treatment at all when microbes are likely colonizers, contaminants, or self-limiting viruses. The proprietary ArkScore scoring system breaks down hard-to-understand concepts around resistance, allowing doctors to easily compare patients or understand the differences between antimicrobials. Physicians can add additional factors, such as a patient’s drug allergies, or check for drug interactions. The physician can even access the references and data that support the recommendation. All of this information allows physicians to make well-informed decisions that benefit their patients and reduce the overuse of antibiotics. Arkstone software is currently being used to reduce antibiotic use in the United States. At present, nearly a third of OneChoice reports recommend no treatment; thus, despite patient demand, doctors have receive clear, evidence-based guidance that they can share with their patients to help avoid prescribing unnecessary antibiotics. Arkstone software also acts as a powerful surveillance tool. By integrating with dozens of laboratories across the country, it can detect upticks in infection and resistance trends. This information is already being used to help individual laboratories track trends within their patient base. With further development and the right partners, these data can be used to benefit the entire population. Arkstone has proven that outpatient antimicrobial stewardship is possible. Dr. Frenkel called for more collaboration to change the face of outpatient prescribing together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8xzF59_kms&t=1825s

Dr. Frenkel's presentation begin at 30:25

May

May 23, 2023

Arkstone

Pathogens Are Constantly Evolving: Can You Say the Same for Your Clinical Tools?

Overview: Evolution moves fast

Infectious pathogens are constantly getting stronger and more strategic, adapting to new environments,
and evolving to resist existing treatments. Despite this constant evolution, the technologies crucial to
fighting antimicrobial resistance (AMR) often fail to keep pace. While the most formidable pathogens
are always the latest and greatest version, clinical tools can become archaic and outdated, unable to
reliably equip physicians with the most accurate and actionable information in a timely fashion.

Even the most basic medical technologies have gone through stages of innovation as they advanced
over time—consider, for example, the stethoscope. Now an iconic item slung around the neck of
practicing physicians, this tool originated as improvisation, in the form of a rolled-up sheet of paper.
Early stethoscopes were based on (and looked like!) the musical flute, and even today the stethoscope
continues to evolve in its efficacy and accuracy.

If we understand medical technologies must evolve, shouldn't it be the same for our lab reporting and
analysis processes?

Technology has to keep pace, and lab reporting is no exception

Much like the stethoscope, lab reporting originated as a piece of paper: traditional lab reports were
designed to be used with manual typewriters. But because lab reports never evolved beyond their
original design, today’s providers are confronted with the limited dimensionality of these reports—
making it difficult to interpret results in a larger context, compare outcomes data, or take into account
specific patient characteristics and needs.

Outdated lab reporting technologies are not merely inefficient, they can also be especially dangerous in
the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The United States sees more than 2.8 million AMR
infections each year, resulting in over 35,000 annual deaths. These figures are just a portion of a larger
global crisis, with over 1 million yearly deaths caused by AMR-related illnesses, and AMR as a
contributing factor to another 5 million deaths each year. Alongside the heavy human toll comes
resource strain and cost burden as well: in the United States alone, the yearly cost of treating infections
caused by drug-resistant pathogens exceeds $4.6 billion.

In the face of these numbers, outdated lab reporting technologies simply won't cut it.

Stop relying on archaic tech for your lab needs

Providers seek out the latest and most advanced tools available in order to stay ahead of the curve in
patient care. Delivering optimal patient care requires using clinical tools for diagnostic support that are
capable of precisely considering the individual patient. That’s precisely what Arkstone delivers in our
OneChoice and Medsmatrix solutions.

With AI-backed precision analysis and interpretation and real-time patient-specific treatment plans,
Arkstone equips users with the optimal treatment regimen in a matter of seconds. Backed by advanced
artificial intelligence and a deep understanding of infectious diseases, our decision-supporting clinical
tools delivers capabilities that match the pace of development in today’s digital age: putting modern
technologies to use toward precise, rapid, and effective patient care.

Diagnostic-supporting clinical tools built for the future

Typical lab reports only offer a static interpretation of test results, but Arkstone’s recommendations
provide dosages and duration of treatment, tailored to the unique needs of each patient.

OneChoice includes numerical ArkScores assessing infection complexity, antibiotic adverse
reactions, and resistance gene implications.

Medsmatrix provides a drug-to-microbe relationship, shows why a drug may not work, and
includes NIH data and standard-of-care references for evidence-based recommendations.

Arkstone’s other interactive tools enable:
- Cross-checking of drug interactions
- Calculating GFR and CrCl for appropriate dosage
- Determination of dosing adjustments for renal or hepatic dysfunction

Partner with Arkstone to drive precision patient care

Outdated lab reporting methods are inefficient, inaccurate, and unnecessary—and like any obsolete
technology can cause more harm than good.

Don’t settle for outdated methods when it comes to providing care for your patients. Choose Arkstone
for the latest and most advanced clinical tools in diagnostic support.

Arkstone and its partners are introducing a new era of more precise, rapid, and effective patient care.

Reach out to Arkstone today and let’s talk about the future of precision patient care.

May

May 8, 2023

Arkstone

Why are you still treating your patients with century-old medicine?

Outdated lab report technology only offers a static snapshot of a testing result. They can’t deliver the level of specificity or level of analysis required for delivering precision care.

Jul

July 5, 2022

Dr. Ari Frenkel

What is the significance of Gardnerella vaginalis, Alloscardovia omnicolens, Actinotignum schaalii, and Actinomyces spp. in urine samples?

Great article explores this topic.

[cite source="doi"]10.1007/s10096-018-3250-6[/cite]

1 2 3 … 38 Next page

Prescribe Responsibly®

The most critical advantage AI can offer healthcare isn’t just speed