Dereck Paul, a former medical student at UC San Francisco, recognized the need for innovation in medical software to match advancements in other industries. His vision prioritized patients and doctors over hospital administrators or insurance companies. Teaming up with Graham Ramsey, an engineer at Modern Fertility, they co-founded Glass Health in 2021. Glass Health offers a unique notebook for physicians, allowing them to store, organize, and share their approaches to diagnosing and treating medical conditions throughout their careers. Ramsey describes it as a “personal knowledge management system” tailored to the medical field.
The inspiration behind Glass Health stemmed from the overwhelming challenges faced by healthcare providers during the pandemic, along with the escalating issue of provider burnout. Paul, who experienced burnout as a medical student and internal medicine resident, aimed to leverage technology to enhance medical practice.
Glass Health initially gained traction among healthcare professionals on social media platforms, particularly X (formerly Twitter). This led to a successful $1.5 million pre-seed funding round in 2022, with Breyer Capital as the lead investor. The company subsequently joined Y Combinator’s Winter 2023 batch.
In a strategic move this year, Glass Health pivoted towards generative AI, aligning with the emerging trend. The company now offers an AI tool powered by a large language model (LLM), similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. This AI tool generates diagnoses and evidence-based treatment options for patients based on input from physicians. Doctors can input descriptions of patient cases, and Glass Health’s AI provides probable diagnoses and clinical plans.
The tool also creates case assessment paragraphs with explanations of relevant diagnostic studies. These paragraphs can be edited, used for clinical notes, or shared within the Glass Health community. While the potential of Glass Health’s AI tool is promising, the challenge lies in ensuring the accuracy of health-related advice generated by LLMs.
Past instances, such as Babylon Health’s claims of outperforming doctors and AI systems promoting harmful suggestions, have highlighted the limitations of AI in healthcare. To address these concerns, Glass Health emphasizes the superiority of its AI solution and its commitment to delivering reliable medical information.
The reliability of LLMs in healthcare settings remains a topic of scrutiny. Some concerns include inaccuracies, potential biases, and limitations in handling diverse patient descriptions. Despite these challenges, Glass Health strives to make a positive impact on medical practice by empowering physicians with advanced AI technology.
By Impact Lab