Stay up to date on the latest in health tech, digital health and health AI news with this weekly brief. This is news from the week of May 18 to May 22.
Hyro, Five9 partner to speed up agentic healthcare AI integration
Agentic AI healthcare platform Hyro announced a partnership with Five9 to integrate its native AI agents within Five9’s Intelligent Cloud Contact Center.
The partnership establishes Hyro as the only Five9-accredited healthcare-specific vendor to date. It will allow health organizations to “seamlessly automate complex patient interactions at scale” and shorten integration times, the companies said in a May 20 press release.
"At Five9, our goal is to empower organizations with the most intelligent CX solutions available, and AI Agent Connect allows for just that," said Jess Shea, senior partner manager at Five9. "As our first healthcare-specific accredited vendor, Hyro brings immense specialized value to our mutual clients. Health systems no longer have to compromise between a robust contact center platform and vertical-specific agentic AI. This partnership makes it incredibly simple and fast for healthcare organizations to plug in an AI agent built specifically for their needs."
Garner Health Technology, Atlantic Health partner to improve affordability, care access
Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health is partnering with Garner Health Technology to better connect patients to quality care at lower costs.
Through the partnership, Garner will aid employees at participating employers to “more easily find” clinicians at Atlantic Health. In turn, Atlantic will use Garner data to inform quality improvement work.
Garner’s data includes more than 60 billion medical records from 320 million patients, according to a May 19 press release.
“Atlantic Health is committed to providing better outcomes at a lower cost,” said Saad Ehtisham, Atlantic Health president and CEO, in a statement. “As leaders in value-based care through our accountable care organizations, exciting partnerships – like the one we are announcing today with Garner – demonstrate that we are challenging ourselves to lead the nation in bending the cost curve for patients and their families.”
Prime Healthcare taps Collette Health for virtual sitting tech
Prime Healthcare entered into a strategic partnership with Colette Health to expand virtual sitting technology across the non-profit system, aiming to improve patient safety.
A pilot with Collette’s technology at Prime’s National City, Calif.-based Paradise Valley Hospital saw an 84% reduction in patient falls on medical surgical units, prompting the partnership. The 55-hospital health system also plans to expand from virtual observation to comprehensive virtual nursing programs.
Collette Health CEO Holly Miller said in the May 19 announcement the partnership “exemplifies how virtual observation serves as the strategic foundation for comprehensive virtual care transformation.”
“Prime Healthcare’s commitment to expanding this proven technology across their network demonstrates the power of the value-based entry point approach: starting with virtual observation success and building toward full virtual nursing capabilities that enable additional use cases as they scale,” Miller said. “When healthcare leaders see measurable safety improvements and cost savings, they gain the confidence to scale virtual care enterprise-wide.”
Collette Health has partnered with more than 185 hospitals across the U.S. and delivered $3.96 billion in savings, according to the announcement.
CVS Health whitepaper examines Medicare members’ digital health needs
More than seven in 10 Medicare members report feeling confusion or uncertainty when navigating online health information, a new whitepaper from CVS Health found.
The research (PDF) drew insights from Medicare-eligible consumers through surveys, interviews and ethnographic studies.
Seventy-one percent of respondents report an eagerness to use more digital health care tools and 86% report an eagerness to use them. However, 58% of respondents report that low digital health literacy is negatively impacting their ability to manage their health.
“We're caring for the fastest-growing and most clinically complex population in the country, and what we found in the research challenges a common assumption—older adults actually are more open to engaging with technology than many think," said Dr. Benjamin Kornitzer, M.D., Aetna senior vice president and CMO, in a statement. "It creates a real opportunity to meet them where they are and provide day-to-day support, whether it's managing medications, following up after a visit, or staying on track with chronic conditions. Technology and engagement can help them live healthier, more independent lives."
As a result, CVS said it is applying insights from the research across its digital offerings, including clearer navigation, stronger accessibility features and added privacy and security transparency.