# Dr. Steve Ruffenach > DocRuff | Exploring the Frontier of Health Tech & Digital Medicine --- ## Pages - [Home](https://docruff.io/) --- ## Posts - [Hidden in Plain Sight](https://docruff.io/hidden-in-plain-sight/): Opportunistic Screening and the Future of AI-Driven Healthcare The landscape of medical imaging is being reshaped by the innovative concept... - [Virtual Visits, Real Results: The Case for Expanding Telehealth](https://docruff.io/virtual-visits-real-results-the-case-for-expanding-telehealth/): The COVID-19 pandemic forced a dramatic shift in healthcare delivery, thrusting telehealth into the mainstream. While in-person care remains crucial,... - [The Human Algorithm](https://docruff.io/the-human-algorithm/): For the medical student, the first days in a primary care clinic are an exercise in dissonance. The grand, technological... - [Alarming Study Reveals Foundational AI Models Alarmingly Susceptible to Health Disinformation](https://docruff.io/alarming-study-reveals-foundational-ai-models-alarmingly-susceptible-to-health-disinformation/): Large Language Models (LLMs) have been touted as a transformative force in healthcare, promising to revolutionize everything from diagnostics to... - [The AI Health Paradox: Americans Trust It for Themselves, Not Their Doctors](https://docruff.io/the-ai-health-paradox-americans-trust-it-for-themselves-not-their-doctors/): A new survey reveals a sharp contradiction in how Americans view artificial intelligence in healthcare. While a majority of the... - [Do We Want to Know Our Medical Future? The Promise and Peril of Predictive AI](https://docruff.io/do-we-want-to-know-our-medical-future-the-promise-and-peril-of-predictive-ai/): The healthcare landscape is on the cusp of a major transformation, and the driving force is a new wave of... - [Doctor vs. Algorithm: The Battle for Medicine’s Soul](https://docruff.io/doctor-vs-algorithm-the-battle-for-medicines-soul/): OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently dropped a bombshell that should have every medical professional paying attention: ChatGPT, he claims, already... - [The Algorithm Will See You Now](https://docruff.io/the-algorithm-will-see-you-now/): In a recent issue of Men’s Health, Dave DeBronkart tackles artificial intelligence in healthcare with refreshing honesty. His piece, “Robo-Revolutionize... - [AI, Agency, and Healthcare](https://docruff.io/ai-agency-and-healthcare/): Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming from a simple tool into a powerful agent capable of independent decision-making. This “AI agency,”... --- # # Detailed Content ## Pages - Published: 2025-12-17 - Modified: 2025-12-18 - URL: https://docruff.io/ Dr. Steve Ruffenach | Technology & Medicine Decoding the Future of Health Tech This is about bridging the gap between advanced healthcare technology and human-centered care. I explore the transformative potential of AI and emerging digital tools while providing a roadmap to avoid the pitfalls of innovation—from ethical risks to technical bias. My goal is to navigate the frontier of modern medicine to help build a future that is as safe and responsible as it is intelligent. About Me Contact Me The AI Health Paradox: Americans Trust It for Themselves, Not Their Doctors A new survey reveals a sharp contradiction in how Americans view artificial intelligence in healthcare. While a majority of the public now trusts AI for personal health research, nearly half are uncomfortable with their own doctors relying on the same technology. According to the April 2025 poll from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) at […] Read More Alarming Study Reveals Foundational AI Models Alarmingly Susceptible to Health Disinformation Large Language Models (LLMs) have been touted as a transformative force in healthcare, promising to revolutionize everything from diagnostics to patient communication. However, a concerning new study has cast a stark light on a critical vulnerability: the ease with which even the most advanced foundational LLMs can be manipulated to generate harmful health disinformation. The […] Read More The Human Algorithm For the medical student, the first days in a primary care clinic are an exercise in dissonance. The grand, technological promise of modern medicine often shrinks to... --- --- ## Posts - Published: 2025-12-18 - Modified: 2025-12-18 - URL: https://docruff.io/hidden-in-plain-sight/ - Categories: Uncategorized Opportunistic Screening and the Future of AI-Driven Healthcare The landscape of medical imaging is being reshaped by the innovative concept of “opportunistic screening,” a technique that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to extract a wealth of health information from routine CT scans. This approach allows radiologists to repurpose existing medical images, initially acquired for specific diagnostic purposes, to identify a broader range of conditions, potentially leading to earlier diagnoses and improved patient outcomes. AI as a Diagnostic Powerhouse: Unveiling Cardiovascular Disease and Osteoporosis Recent research from NYU Langone Health highlights the potential of AI-powered opportunistic screening. In a study presented at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) meeting, Dr. Miriam Bredella and her team demonstrated the ability of AI algorithms to analyze abdominal CT scans and detect calcium buildup in the aorta, a key indicator of cardiovascular disease. This suggests that routine abdominal scans could be used to predict heart attacks and other cardiovascular events, potentially saving lives through early intervention. Furthermore, a separate study published in Bone showcased the use of opportunistic screening to identify osteoporosis from CT scans originally performed for lung cancer screening. This research revealed a surprisingly high prevalence of bone loss across diverse patient populations, underscoring the potential of this technique to address healthcare disparities and improve early diagnosis of this often-silent condition. Beyond Traditional Metrics: A Holistic View of Patient Health The applications of opportunistic screening extend far beyond cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. Researchers are actively exploring its use in quantifying muscle mass, detecting... --- - Published: 2025-12-18 - Modified: 2025-12-18 - URL: https://docruff.io/virtual-visits-real-results-the-case-for-expanding-telehealth/ - Categories: Uncategorized The COVID-19 pandemic forced a dramatic shift in healthcare delivery, thrusting telehealth into the mainstream. While in-person care remains crucial, telehealth has proven its value, offering increased access and convenience for patients, particularly those with chronic conditions, limited mobility, or residing in underserved areas. The ability to connect with healthcare providers remotely can be a lifeline for individuals whose complex medical history necessitates consistent communication with her trusted physician, regardless of location. However, the current regulatory landscape surrounding telehealth is fragmented and riddled with inconsistencies. State licensing restrictions create unnecessary barriers, hindering patient access to care and preventing physicians from practicing across state lines. The article cites compelling examples of patients forced to travel long distances for specialized care, even when virtual consultations could suffice. This antiquated system not only burdens patients but also stifles innovation and perpetuates healthcare inequities. Fortunately, momentum is building to modernize telehealth regulations. The extension of Medicare coverage for telehealth and the relaxation of licensing requirements during the pandemic demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of virtual care. States are exploring innovative approaches like “proximal reciprocity” and telemedicine-specific licensing compacts to facilitate cross-border care. These efforts signal a growing recognition that telehealth is not a temporary fix but a vital component of a modern, accessible healthcare system. Moving forward, policymakers must prioritize streamlining telehealth regulations, creating a uniform framework that allows patients to access care seamlessly, regardless of their location. This will require collaboration between states, professional organizations, and healthcare providers to ensure that telehealth is... --- - Published: 2025-12-18 - Modified: 2025-12-18 - URL: https://docruff.io/the-human-algorithm/ - Categories: Uncategorized For the medical student, the first days in a primary care clinic are an exercise in dissonance. The grand, technological promise of modern medicine often shrinks to the scale of a flickering monitor in a cramped examination room, where the immediate challenge is not just to diagnose an illness but to navigate a clunky electronic health record system. The student must learn to connect with a patient while simultaneously satisfying the demands of a machine. It is in this crucible of human and digital interaction that a physician’s professional identity begins to form, and, as a new study suggests, it is the quality of the mentorship, not the sophistication of the software, that matters most. In the European Journal of General Practice*, a study by Pfarrwaller and his colleagues offers a quiet but firm reminder of a foundational principle. They found that the choice to pursue a career in primary care is profoundly influenced by a student’s sense of belonging and their relationship with a supervising physician. A supportive team and an encouraging role model were the critical factors. While the study did not focus on technology, its implications are clear: the tools of modern medicine are only as effective as the culture in which they are used. Before a student can embrace technology as an asset, they must experience it as part of a functioning, collaborative, and humane practice. When a supervising physician uses technology with ease—to pull up a patient’s history, to facilitate a telehealth call, to streamline... --- - Published: 2025-12-18 - Modified: 2025-12-18 - URL: https://docruff.io/alarming-study-reveals-foundational-ai-models-alarmingly-susceptible-to-health-disinformation/ - Categories: Uncategorized Large Language Models (LLMs) have been touted as a transformative force in healthcare, promising to revolutionize everything from diagnostics to patient communication. However, a concerning new study has cast a stark light on a critical vulnerability: the ease with which even the most advanced foundational LLMs can be manipulated to generate harmful health disinformation. The research, which meticulously tested the safeguards in five leading LLMs, should serve as a wake-up call for the healthcare industry as it increasingly explores the integration of these powerful technologies. The study, utilizing the application programming interfaces (APIs) of OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Google’s Gemini 1. 5 Pro, Anthropic’s Claude 3. 5 Sonnet, Meta’s Llama 3. 2-90B Vision, and xAI’s Grok Beta, aimed to assess their resilience against malicious instructions. Researchers issued system-level prompts designed to elicit incorrect responses to health queries, specifically instructing the chatbots to deliver disinformation in a formal, authoritative, convincing, and scientific tone. The results were deeply unsettling: a staggering 88% of the responses generated across the five platforms contained health disinformation. Four of the five LLMs – GPT-4o, Gemini 1. 5 Pro, Llama 3. 2-90B Vision, and Grok Beta – produced disinformation in every single query they received. While Claude 3. 5 Sonnet showed slightly more resistance, it still generated disinformation in 40% of its responses. The misinformation peddled by these manipulated chatbots included debunked claims linking vaccines to autism, the false assertion that HIV is airborne, dangerous “cancer-curing” diets, misinformation about sunscreen risks, conspiracy theories surrounding genetically modified organisms, myths about... --- - Published: 2025-12-18 - Modified: 2025-12-18 - URL: https://docruff.io/the-ai-health-paradox-americans-trust-it-for-themselves-not-their-doctors/ - Categories: Uncategorized A new survey reveals a sharp contradiction in how Americans view artificial intelligence in healthcare. While a majority of the public now trusts AI for personal health research, nearly half are uncomfortable with their own doctors relying on the same technology. According to the April 2025 poll from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) at the University of Pennsylvania, 63% of Americans consider AI-generated health information to be at least “somewhat reliable. ”*Among those who have encountered AI-generated search results, 75% reported finding them useful for answering their health questions. This personal trust, however, does not currently extend to the clinic. The APPC survey found that 49% of U. S. adults are uncomfortable with their healthcare providers using AI tools to inform patient care. These respondents stated a preference for a physician’s personal experience when making critical health decisions. Public health experts caution that this trend is not without risk. APPC Director Kathleen Hall Jamieson warns that AI responses are no substitute for personalized medical advice and can lead to “confusion and even harm. ” The information presented by these platforms may also be outdated, creating a gap between algorithmic guidance and current medical standards. https://www. annenbergpublicpolicycenter. org/many-in-u-s-consider-ai-generated-health-information-useful-and-reliable/ --- - Published: 2025-12-17 - Modified: 2025-12-18 - URL: https://docruff.io/do-we-want-to-know-our-medical-future-the-promise-and-peril-of-predictive-ai/ - Categories: Uncategorized The healthcare landscape is on the cusp of a major transformation, and the driving force is a new wave of artificial intelligence. A groundbreaking study published in Nature* introduces Delphi-2M, a generative AI model that is changing the game for predictive medicine. The healthcare landscape is on the cusp of a major transformation, and the driving force is a new wave of artificial intelligence. A groundbreaking study published in Nature* introduces Delphi-2M, a generative AI model that is changing the game for predictive medicine. This is not another single-purpose AI tool; it’s a sophisticated system that, much like the chatbots we’re now familiar with, uses a “generative transformer” architecture to learn the “grammar” of human health. By analyzing vast amounts of medical history, it can forecast an individual's health trajectory years, and even decades, into the future. What sets Delphi-2M apart is its comprehensive approach. Trained on data from hundreds of thousands of people and validated on millions more, it can predict the risk and onset of over 1,000 diseases simultaneously. This moves us beyond the traditional, reactive model of medicine—where we wait for symptoms to appear before we act—to a proactive, anticipatory one. For medical professionals, this means being able to advise patients on specific lifestyle changes or preventive treatments long before a disease takes hold, fundamentally shifting the focus of healthcare from treatment to prevention. But with this incredible power comes a profound question: do we really want to know our medical future? The ability to predict the onset of diseases like dementia or certain cancers, for which there are currently no cures, raises significant ethical and personal dilemmas. Does having this foresight truly empower us, or does it create a new form of anxiety and despair? For some, living... --- - Published: 2025-12-17 - Modified: 2025-12-17 - URL: https://docruff.io/doctor-vs-algorithm-the-battle-for-medicines-soul/ - Categories: Uncategorized OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently dropped a bombshell that should have every medical professional paying attention: ChatGPT, he claims, already outperforms most human doctors at diagnosis. If true, we’re witnessing a seismic shift that could fundamentally reshape how we practice medicine. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently dropped a bombshell that should have every medical professional paying attention: ChatGPT, he claims, already outperforms most human doctors at diagnosis. If true, we’re witnessing a seismic shift that could fundamentally reshape how we practice medicine. Speaking at the Capital Framework for Large Banks conference, Altman was characteristically direct: “ChatGPT today, most of the time, can give you better diagnosis than most doctors in the world. ” This isn’t just Silicon Valley hyperbole—it’s a gauntlet thrown at the feet of medical education and practice as we know it. The Human Paradox in Digital Medicine But Altman immediately pulled back from the precipice of pure technological determinism. Even the man championing AI’s diagnostic superiority admitted he wouldn’t “entrust my medical fate to ChatGPT with no human doctor in the loop. ” This contradiction reveals something profound about healthcare that Silicon Valley is just beginning to grasp: medicine isn’t just about accurate diagnosis—it’s about human connection, trust, and the irreplaceable comfort of another person who understands mortality. This tension poses the central challenge of 21st-century medicine: Can we harness AI’s diagnostic precision while preserving the empathy, intuition, and human understanding that patients desperately need when they’re most vulnerable? The answer will determine whether AI becomes medicine’s greatest ally or its most dangerous distraction. Beyond the Hospital: AI’s Expanding Reach and Risks Altman’s concerns extend well beyond the exam room. He warned of AI’s darker applications: hostile nations weaponizing artificial intelligence against financial systems, and the chilling rise... --- - Published: 2025-12-17 - Modified: 2025-12-18 - URL: https://docruff.io/the-algorithm-will-see-you-now/ - Categories: Uncategorized In a recent issue of Men's Health, Dave DeBronkart tackles artificial intelligence in healthcare with refreshing honesty. His piece, "Robo-Revolutionize Your Health," avoids the typical Silicon Valley hype while acknowledging that A. I. can be genuinely useful—and genuinely "scary. " DeBronkart's examples are convincing. Burt Rosen used ChatGPT to decode his medical reports. Courtney Morales Hofmann employed A. I. to identify her son's undiagnosed condition. These aren't theoretical benefits but practical wins against a healthcare system that often leaves patients drowning in incomprehensible information. What sets DeBronkart apart is his treatment of A. I. as a sophisticated reference tool rather than an oracle. He emphasizes verification, precise prompting, and healthy skepticism—the understanding that even advanced algorithms are, fundamentally, confident guessers. This perspective feels adult in an era of breathless tech evangelism. The broader implications are significant. DeBronkart envisions A. I. helping doctors with administrative tasks, assisting with diagnoses, and improving patient education. The traditional asymmetries of medical knowledge might begin to flatten, transforming patients from passive recipients into informed participants in their own care. Whether this vision survives contact with America's actual healthcare system—with its insurance labyrinths and profit-driven priorities—remains unclear. But DeBronkart offers a practical roadmap for navigating these changes. He demystifies A. I. without overselling it, encouraging readers to engage with technology as informed consumers rather than true believers. In a healthcare landscape where medical bills arrive faster than diagnoses and patient consultations last minutes, artificial intelligence might not represent the future so much as a more honest... --- - Published: 2025-12-16 - Modified: 2025-12-18 - URL: https://docruff.io/ai-agency-and-healthcare/ - Categories: Uncategorized Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming from a simple tool into a powerful agent capable of independent decision-making. This "AI agency," characterized by the ability of software to analyze data, adapt to changing conditions, and make decisions autonomously, has profound implications for healthcare. It raises critical questions about responsibility, accountability, and the very nature of the doctor-patient relationship. The emergence of agency in healthcare AI presents a paradigm shift demanding careful navigation. The medical community must proactively engage in shaping ethical guidelines and practical protocols to ensure this evolving technology enhances, not replaces, the human element of medicine. In this article we will discuss benefits and risk of agency embedded within the machines that continue to subtlety harness increasing power and ubiquity in our lives and practice. Defining Agency in AI The concept of "agency" in artificial intelligence, while increasingly relevant, remains complex and multifaceted. It signifies a shift from AI as a passive tool to an active entity capable of independent decision-making and goal-oriented behavior. Drawing on the work of leading AI researcher Stuart Russell, agency can be defined as "the capacity to act independently and make choices" (Russell, 2019). This implies a level of autonomy and self-direction that goes beyond basic algorithms with simple rule-following or task execution. Philosopher Daniel Dennett further elaborates on this, suggesting that agency involves "the ability to control one's own actions and mental states" (Dennett, 1987). In the context of AI, this translates to systems that can not only process information but also choose... --- ---