The U.S. government is putting $62.7 million behind artificial intelligence bots that could help treat heart failure. ARPA-H, the agency that funds cutting-edge health research, announced the first batch of awards on Wednesday for a program called ADVOCATE.
The ADVOCATE program
ARPA-H plans to develop partially autonomous AI devices authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. These tools could assess symptom severity, prescribe drugs, and order lab tests.
The goal is to close a gap in care for the 6.7 million Americans with heart failure. Many of those patients do not get optimal treatment because they struggle to access specialists. The AI tools are meant to help, especially in rural and other underserved settings.
The first-year commitment is $33.7 million. The remainder of the $62.7 million may be renegotiated up or down as the program develops.
Who gets the money
ARPA-H announced the first batch of awards to several health tech companies and academic teams:
- Atman Health
- UpDoc
- Tempus AI
- Stanford University
- Duke University
- The Kaiser Permanente health system
That makes six awardees in the initial group — three health tech companies, two universities, and one health system. All six will work toward the program’s goal of FDA-authorized devices. ARPA-H may still fund additional teams beyond this initial group.
What the AI will do
The program, called ADVOCATE, is designed to produce devices that work partially on their own — “partially autonomous,” as they are described. The devices would be authorized by the FDA, and their capabilities could include assessing how severe a patient’s symptoms are, prescribing drugs, and ordering lab tests.
Many of the 6.7 million Americans with heart failure don’t get optimal treatment because of difficulty accessing specialists.
That is the core problem the program aims to address. The AI agents are designed to help direct treatment in settings where specialist care is hard to reach — particularly rural and other underserved settings.
Heart failure requires ongoing management, and the hope is that these tools can step in where specialists are scarce.
What happens next
ARPA-H has committed the first $33.7 million for year one. The remaining funds — the balance of the $62.7 million total — are not locked in; they may be renegotiated up or down depending on how the program progresses.
The six awardees will begin work on their proposed systems. The program’s stated goal is FDA-authorized, partially autonomous devices for clinical use in treating heart failure. And ARPA-H has left the door open to funding additional teams beyond this first batch.
For now, that is where things stand.
Source: statnews.com
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.