In this week’s edition of InnovationRx, we look at the opportunities and challenges of using AI to personalize healthcare and speed up clinical trials, the future of genetic medicine, another big Lilly acquisition, and more. To get it in your inbox, subscribe here.

This week, more than 14,000 people convened in Las Vegas for the annual Adobe Summit. Not surprisingly, a lot of the conversations at the conference were centered on AI – including one panel discussion focused on how the technology can be used to personalize healthcare delivery.

This is a priority for healthcare because “unlike other industries, in healthcare your journey is like no other’s because your biology is like no other’s,” said Blue Shield of California CMO Jigar Shah.

But the industry has been slower to adopt technology, suggested Tory Smithe, who leads digital strategy for healthcare at Adobe, because of regulation, siloed systems and legacy technologies, which have made companies more conservative about digital transformation. Shah said that one way healthcare systems can overcome that inertia is to see regulation as being aligned to serve patients. “The intent behind regulation is to protect the consumer,” he said. “So if you accept that, then you see it as a springboard,” he added, citing Blue Shield’s implementation of price transparency before it became a regulatory mandate.

Another benefit of AI and new technologies, said Lesley Spellmeyer, who manages personalization for Lilly, is that they allow healthcare companies to be more proactive in providing information to both patients and providers. “Doctors are people, and they go to Amazon,” she said, which means that healthcare companies should provide the same kind of seamless experiences. Shah agreed with that sentiment and highlighted an initiative by Blue Shield in this regard: its app can alert consumers when their doctor prescribes a drug, letting them know if there are similarly effective medications available at a better price to avoid sticker shock at the pharmacy.

Even with the advantages AI provides, the participants noted that it’s not a panacea, and it needs to be implemented–or not–in ways that maintain the trust of patients and doctors. Amanda Todorovich, who manages Cleveland Clinic’s expansive collection of articles on medical conditions and treatments, said that while AI has helped........

© Forbes