Healthcare AI firm Suki says it has raised $70 million in new funding.
The funding will allow the company to invest in development of its products, which include an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered voice assistant used by clinicians, the company announced in a news release Thursday (Oct. 10).
“The healthcare industry is clamoring for AI and we are proud to offer a suite of full-featured solutions that seamlessly interoperate with existing tools,” Suki founder and CEO Punit Soni said in the release.
“With the support of our investors, we’ll accelerate our growth, diversify Suki’s capabilities, and deepen relationships with strategic partners such as MedStar Health, one of the most important collaborators in Suki’s history.”
As noted here when Suki raised $20 million in 2018, the company’s assistant is designed to do things like replacing transcription of notes and orders, and retrieve patient data.
In addition to the Suki Assistant, the company also offers the Suki platform, which it describes as a suite of developer tools for tech firms that want to add AI to their own solutions. The company says more than a dozen major health systems and hospitals either deployed or expanded access to its technology in the last two months.
The funding comes at a time when AI is making inroads in the clinical space through advanced note-taking systems. As PYMNTS wrote in August, these tools employ natural language processing and speech recognition to transcribe and analyze patient-clinician interactions.
“By automating clinical workflow activities, including clinical documentation, coding, prior authorizations and medication reconciliation, providers can focus a greater portion of their time on the patient, rather than splitting their attention between the patient and paperwork,” Brad Boyd, national healthcare industry co-leader at BDO USA, told PYMNTS.
The shift could be critical in dealing with healthcare’s labor shortages, particularly in the primary care space.
“The primary care relationship has been eroding over the past several years, with patients turning to retail health and urgent care providers given their need for timely medical care,” Boyd said.
Ciba Health CEO and founder Dr. Innocent Clement spotlighted additional benefits.
“AI-powered clinical note generation can enhance doctor-patient interaction, improve accuracy and empower patients to take a more active role in their healthcare through transparent access to their medical information,” Clement told PYMNTS.
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