While technology innovators are exploring the potential of artificial intelligence to enhance patient outcomes and experiences, they are also discovering ways to streamline the bureaucratic processes that often hinder healthcare advancements, as indicated by recent announcements.
Several collaborations, including partnerships between Northwestern Medicine, Nevada Health Link, Cohere Health, and Kyruus Health with Dell Technologies, Google Cloud Marketplace, and other entities, aim to provide solutions for healthcare providers and payers to address the everyday obstacles that delay care approvals and impede patient enrollment in health plans.
Dell and Northwestern’s Advancements in AI Implementation in Healthcare Workflows
Dell Technologies and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine are embarking on a joint initiative to incorporate generative multimodal large language models (mLLMs) into hospital workflows. This integration seeks to enhance patient care quality and alleviate physician burnout. The collaboration will span various domains, utilizing mLLMs for tasks such as analyzing images, videos, waveforms, and predictive modeling for electronic health records. A key focus will be on developing a generative model to assist in interpreting chest x-rays.
Northwestern Medicine’s prior work with Dell’s AI Innovation Lab involved training a multimodal LLM to generate draft x-ray reports, aiding physicians in decision-making processes. A recent study published in JAMA by Northwestern researchers demonstrated the potential of AI, specifically genAI, in expediting the interpretation of chest radiography by emergency department physicians. The AI model’s reports exhibited comparable clinical accuracy and superior textual quality compared to traditional radiology and teleradiology reports.
Jeff Boudreau, Chief AI Officer at Dell Technologies, emphasized the transformative impact of technology, particularly AI, in driving innovation within healthcare. Dr. Mozziyar Etemadi, Northwestern Medicine’s Medical Director of Advanced Technologies, highlighted AI’s capacity to positively influence patient outcomes and underscored the critical role it plays in advancing healthcare.
Nevada Health Link’s Introduction of AI-Powered Virtual Agent
Nevada Health Link recently integrated AI capabilities into its state-based marketplace platform to enhance customer service and address peak demand periods effectively. Through a pioneering virtual agent developed in collaboration with GetInsured, the platform now offers round-the-clock support using natural language prompts to address common inquiries and assist with enrollment processes.
During the 2024 open enrollment period, the AI virtual agent managed 14.5% of the call center’s volume, handling approximately 2,700 calls. Additionally, it facilitated the transfer of 9.6% of calls to affiliated brokers or Nevada Medicaid, amounting to around 2,100 calls. This implementation allowed frontline workers to focus on complex tasks while reducing customer wait times for specialized services.
Russell Cook, Executive Director of Nevada Health Link, highlighted the importance of AI integration in ensuring continuous support for Nevada’s diverse workforce, particularly individuals with non-traditional work schedules. The platform’s compliance with privacy and security standards, along with its contribution to record enrollment figures, underscores its effectiveness in meeting evolving consumer needs.
Cohere Health’s AI Integration for Streamlining Prior Authorization Processes
Cohere Health introduced an AI-driven prior authorization integration within Epic to expedite clinical decision-making and streamline authorization requests directly from providers’ EHR workflows. This innovation aims to automate the initiation of authorization requests, reducing administrative burden and enhancing care delivery efficiency.
Dr. Brian Covino, Chief Medical Officer at Cohere Health, emphasized the significance of this integration in achieving a seamless, touchless authorization process. By leveraging predictive models and proactive decision support, Cohere Health processes millions of prior authorization requests annually, accelerating care approvals and minimizing administrative costs.
Kyruus Health’s Expansion with Google Cloud Collaboration
Kyruus Health extended its reach by offering Kyruus Connect for Payers through the Google Cloud Marketplace, catering to a wide range of national and regional health plan brands. This platform provides data and compliance services to enhance patient engagement and promote cost transparency, guiding plan participants towards optimal care choices.
Gail Airasian, Chief Strategy Officer at Kyruus Health, highlighted the collaboration with Google Cloud as a strategic move to scale their care access platform efficiently. By facilitating quick deployment, management, and growth of cost transparency tools, health plans can streamline processes and improve patient engagement opportunities.
In summary, these collaborations signify a concerted effort to leverage AI and innovative technologies to overcome healthcare challenges, enhance patient care quality, and streamline administrative processes within the industry.
Andrea Fox serves as the Senior Editor of Healthcare IT News.
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Healthcare IT News is a publication under HIMSS Media.
