Innovaccer CEO Abhinav Shashank.
Courtesy: Innovaccer
With doctors and nurses facing historic burnout rates, Innovacer says artificial intelligence is here.
On Monday, Health-Care Data Company unveiled a suite of AI agents designed to automate repetitive, “low-value” tasks for clinicians.
“We just don’t have enough capacity for our health system, we don’t have enough capacity to serve everyone to the extent they deserve,” Innovaccer CEO Abhinav Shashank said in an interview with CNBC He spoke to. “The need for an agent workforce to supplement caregivers is really, really high.”
AI agents can complete certain assignments without human intervention. With the next phase of AI taking root, they dominate all industries, especially in healthcare due to burnout, labor constraints and the amount of administrative work required by practitioners. By 2028, there is a shortage of 100,000 key healthcare workers, according to consulting firm Mercer.
A study from October shows that clinicians spend nearly nine hours a week on documents alone Google cloud.
Shashank co-founded Innovaccer in 2014 to create a platform that streamlines information exchange across the healthcare system. In recent years, the company has built additional applications that will help doctors, care managers and management staff work more efficiently.
Innovaccer serves more than 60 million patients in the US every day, spreading across over 100 healthcare systems. In January, the company announced a $275 million funding round from investors, including Generation Investment Management, co-founded by Algore, Kaiser Permanente and Kaiser Permanente. Microsoft’s M12.
The company’s AI agent suite is known as Agent of Care. Shashank said that initially includes seven different agents, but Innovaccer will be added over time. The company is also planning to open a platform so startups and customers can build their own agents, he added.
Innovacer shared another Demo video for referral with CNBC of the agent for protocol intake.
Regarding protocol intake, Innovacer can collect basic information from patients and adjust the follow-up of care managers, the company said. It is activated by voice, and you can call the patient over the phone and tell them, “In your own words what you took to the emergency room.” “Your doctor will clarify your diagnosis Did you explain to me? ;” And “Did you notice any changes in your pain level?”
Agents can talk to patients in a natural rhythm and deal with specific details and problems. At the demonstration, patients collapsed and injured their ankles, and struggled to take painkillers. The agent said he would share that information with his care manager and schedule a follow-up call later in the day.
Referral agents are also voice-activated, calling patients and connecting with the appropriate expert. In the demonstration, the agents helped patients choose the date and time of their appointment with the cardiologist, and added reminders to bring their photo ID, insurance card, medication list and related medical records.
Other new agents in Innovaccer will automatically book and manage appointments and provide 24-hour support for patient inquiries.
Shashank said that if the company does the job well, its agent will bring more care to its patients and help reduce clinician burnout in a “very meaningful” way.
“If AI can impact anywhere, healthcare is one of the places we really, really need,” he said.
The company is testing agents on five health systems. Shashank said that protocol intake agents are the most popular ever, as patient calls and checks can be very time-consuming.
Innovaccer has deployed suites to existing customers and said it will be widely available in two to three months.
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