HCA Healthcare (HCA) & Google Cloud Unite to Improve Efficiency
HCA Healthcare, Inc. HCA recently announced a new collaboration with Google Cloud to improve workflow on laborious tasks, thereby improving patient outcomes. HCA will use Google’s generative AI technology to reduce the burden of clinical documentation from nurses and physicians.
This collaboration builds on an existing partnership between the two companies announced in 2021 to protect the privacy of patients and secure data. HCA is also implementing MEDITECH Expanse, which began in 2022, to digitally transform its operations and improve the efficiency of operations.
For a healthcare facility operator, expanding patient volumes remain the most significant contributor to its top line. Revenues of HCA Healthcare witnessed an uptick in the first half of 2023 on the back of 2.6% growth in admissions. Management expects 2023 revenues in the band of $63.25-$64.75 billion, the midpoint of which indicates growth of 6.3% from the 2022 reported figure.
A pilot program began early this year in which 75 emergency room doctors at four HCA hospitals were made to use Google’s AI technology to document medical info via speech. This program would leverage natural language processing and speech-to-text processing to convert data into medical notes to be used by physicians.
HCA’s Care Transformation and Innovation team, along with Google Cloud and Augmedix, are continuously monitoring and innovating in this space to refine the solution. HCA expects to expand its use to more hospitals this year. The company is also working on using generative AI for patent handoffs. HCA is using Google Cloud’s large language models to generate handoff reports, saving nurses time and improving efficiency and patient outcomes.
Zacks Rank & Price Performance
HCA currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Shares of HCA Healthcare have gained 38.4% in the past year compared with the industry’s 31.8% rise.
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Other Stocks to Consider
Some other top-ranked stocks in the medical space are Select Medical Holdings Corporation SEM, Atai Life Sciences N.V. ATAI and Molina Healthcare, Inc. MOH. Each of these companies presently carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Select Medical’s 2023 earnings indicates a 56.9% year-over-year increase to $1.93 per share. It has witnessed one upward estimate revision over the past week against no movement in the opposite direction. The consensus mark for SEM’s 2023 revenues indicates 4.2% growth from a year ago.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Atai Life Sciences’ current-year earnings indicates a 16.3% improvement from the year-ago reported figure. It has witnessed four upward estimate revisions over the past 30 days against no movement in the opposite direction. ATAI beat earnings estimates in two of the last four quarters, met once and missed on the other occasion.
The bottom line of Molina Healthcare surpassed estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 7.2%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MOH’s 2023 earnings and revenues indicates 15.3% and 3.4% growth, respectively, from their corresponding prior-year actuals. The consensus mark for MOH’s 2023 earnings has moved 1.8% north in the past 30 days.
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Molina Healthcare, Inc (MOH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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atai Life Sciences N.V. (ATAI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
