OpenEvidence has reached a $15 billion valuation, a distinction that should reassure anyone whose condition responds to venture capital.
The Financial Times, in its October 21 report carried by Ars Technica, describes an ad-funded medical search tool used by nearly two-thirds of American doctors, according to the company. Physicians interviewed praised its usefulness. It searches medical literature and guidelines; this is not a claim that doctors have surrendered their patients to a banner ad.
The evidence about the evidence machine is less grand than the valuation. A Mayo Clinic study found accurate recommendations in five sampled cases; Mayo is an investor. Another study found it trailing general-purpose models on clinical benchmarks. Those results do not establish that the product is useless. They do make “lots of doctors use it” a different credential from “we have established how well it works.”
Asked about benchmarks, founder Daniel Nadler emphasized which tool physicians trust and use. An admirably efficient response: the examination has been replaced by attendance.
Make powerful people uncomfortable.
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