Photo: FG Trade/GettyImages
Ostro, a patient engagement platform for the life sciences industry, and the Havas Health Network announced that their virtual course has been granted a Guinness World Records certificate for the most users to take an online AI in health literacy lesson in 24 hours.
The course entitled, "The Power of AI for Health Literacy – Challenges and Opportunities for the Future of Life Sciences," consisted of six interactive modules guided by industry experts. It covered the fundamentals of AI, its ethical use and the changing compliance landscape.
Participants completed the 30-minute course and quiz via a verified registration system that met all Guinness World Record evidence requirements.
Ostro connects healthcare providers (HCPs) and patients to therapies through personalized, compliant digital offerings. Its integrated platform includes Tailor, an AI technology that allows HCPs to interact with content on their terms and in their own words.
Airmark is another offering of Ostro's that takes traditional emails and allows HCPs to engage in conversations with instant, compliant responses.
Havas Health Network is a communications network that partners with health brands. The network includes Havas Life, Havas Lynx and Jacques.
The company says that it partners with health brands that concentrate on uplifting the human spirit as well as physically treating the human body.
"Pharma is adopting AI at a rapid pace and in a multitude of areas, from drug discovery to marketing," Ahmed Elsayyad, cofounder and president of Ostro, said in a statement.
"As this transformation occurs, responsible AI is becoming a top priority, with regulations and best practices evolving in near real-time. Breaking the record was a small victory, as educating the masses to close the health literacy gap was the major victory here."
Dennis Urbaniak, global chief client officer and chief experience officer of Havas Health Network, said the companies are making education a priority for the application of AI across life sciences and healthcare.
"By uniting our global network, clients and partners, we’re setting a new standard for accessible and trustworthy AI training. Setting the world record is an exciting milestone as we work to advance health literacy advocacy across the healthcare landscape," Urbaniak said in a statement.
THE LARGER TREND
In 2022, Ostro, secured $45 million in funding, which brought the company's total funding at the time to more than $55 million.
The topic of health literacy has been the subject of numerous peer reviewed articles.
According to the National Institutes of Health, a large portion of the population in the U.S. face challenges with health literacy.
The National Assessment of Adult Literacy Survey has shown that only 12% of American adults have proficient health literacy skills that are essential for comprehending the intricacies of healthcare, and almost 36% have basic or below levels of health literacy.
A study published in ScienceDirect entitled, "Artificial Intelligence Techniques and Health Literacy: A Systematic Review," reviewed the utilization of AI in health literacy, highlighting limitations and future developments.
"The review highlights AI’s dynamic application in relation to health literacy; however, measurement of health literacy, at both an individual and organizational level, to evidence AI's effectiveness remains limited," the study's authors wrote.
The researchers concluded that future work should not only evaluate health literacy outcomes more meticulously, but also review research on boosting AI model performance, robust evaluation and its practical application in the real world.
Another study published in Health Literacy and Communication Open entitled, "Artificial intelligence and health literacy — proceed with caution," concluded that AI platforms like ChatGPT can address health questions, which could expand access to information, answer health-related questions, offer personalized health advice and engage users in continuing support.
"Those of us engaged in improving health literacy have an important role to play in influencing the future direction of AI in health communication, including and especially by engaging in research and development activities that build evidence of effectiveness and support the development of health literacy skills alongside the expansion of technologies," the study's authors wrote.
The HIMSS AI & Cybersecurity Virtual Forum is free to attend on Nov. 18. Learn more and register.
