Welcome back to AI 411, a monthly roundup of artificial intelligence (AI) announcements from across the healthcare industry.
In the AI world this month, it’s impossible to ignore the announcement of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI model that impacted US stocks.
Ken Ko, chief technology officer at healthcare AI company Ferrum Health, told Healthcare Brew that DeepSeek can have a “significant impact” on healthcare applications and that its development is a sign we are in the early stages of AI innovation.
“One of its key signals for the wider [healthcare] industry is that best-in-class models are no longer tied to who has the largest build out of AI infrastructure,” he said. “This increased accessibility brings a fundamental shift in our return on investment calculations, as we no longer need to take a big hit on model performance as we balance this new technology against data privacy concerns, local privacy requirements, and the deployment strategies available to us.”
In case you missed it, we also did a special edition of AI 411 earlier this month featuring tech we saw at CES. Now, we’re coming back to you with our regularly scheduled programming of notable health-related AI headlines from January.
Abridge. AI scribe company Abridge, which works with providers like Johns Hopkins Medicine and Mayo Clinic, launched on Jan. 29 an update to its software called “Inside for Emergency Medicine.” It allows emergency department clinicians to use Abridge and input notes directly into Epic, a major electronic health records (EHR) system.
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Healthcare Brew covers pharmaceutical developments, health startups, the latest tech, and how it impacts hospitals and providers to keep administrators and providers informed.
Medsender. AI workflow automation company Medsender announced a $5 million Series A round on Jan. 30 led by Ballast Point Ventures. The company works within EHRs to automate referrals, scheduling, and patient requests.
Rad AI. Rad AI, a company that develops generative AI software for radiology and imaging, announced a $60 million Series C fundraising round on Jan. 30 led by Transformation Capital. The company offers a dashboard that builds out patient reports and identifies diagnoses, and then audiates a message when patients need to return for imaging. This brings total funding for the company, whose overall goal is to reduce physician burnout, to $525 million.
Sonio. Women’s and children’s health tech company Sonio unveiled a new AI-powered voice recognition software called Sonio Voice. Announced on Jan. 27, the tool transcribes and inputs data into EHRs on behalf of sonographers during ultrasound exams.
Sutter Health and GE Healthcare. Not-for-profit health system Sutter Health and medical technology company GE Healthcare announced on Jan. 14 a seven-year agreement to provide hospitals with medical imaging devices that use AI. Sutter Health, which has 300+ facilities and over 3.5 million patients, expects the partnership will save $30–$40 million yearly, the company’s chief operating officer told Fierce Healthcare.
Qventus. Chicago-based health system Northwestern Medicine and Minneapolis health system Allina Health teamed up on Jan. 13 to invest $105 million into Qventus, a company that makes AI software for hospitals. The company’s technology streamlines processes like health insurance claims.