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GPT-enabled conversational AI provider Hyro is partnering with Sutter Health to incorporate its AI-powered patient communication tools into the California-based health system's workflow.
New York-based Hyro, formerly Airbud, offers a conversational AI-enabled call center for providers that allows for automated conversations with patients.
It also provides real-time analytics, insights from patient interactions and a GPT-enabled assistant, dubbed Spot, that offers explainability around AI outputs.
Sutter Health will use Hyro's platform as a communication tool for patients, allowing them to access self-service options 24/7 via chat, voice or SMS.
The aim is to automate routine interactions through Hyro to allow Sutter support representatives to focus on more complex tasks.
"With the addition of an AI-powered voice and chat communications platform, Sutter will continue to transform touchpoints for our patients and our people, helping drive better patient engagement, streamline operations for our teams and deliver data-driven insights that can help us better serve their needs now and in the future," Jennifer Bollinger, chief consumer and brand officer for Sutter Health, said in a statement.
THE LARGER TREND
In 2024, Hyro finalized an extension of its Series B funding round.
At the time, the company told MobiHealthNews that the total Series B funding equated to $35 million, bringing its total raise to $50 million.
In 2023, the company secured $20 million in Series B funding and announced a partnership with patient communication platform Artera, formerly Well Health.
The partners launched Artera Care Assist, an AI-powered virtual assistant powered by Hyro that can be embedded into a health provider's website to answer common patient questions.
In 2021, Hyro secured $10.5 million in Series A funding, and in 2019, raised $4 million in seed funding.
Earlier this year, Sutter Health announced its participation in a $150 million investment round in AI-enabled imaging company Aidoc, alongside General Catalyst, Hartford HealthCare, Mercy and other investors.
Sutter Health also partnered with Aidoc to integrate aiOS across Sutter's care system, to provide Sutter patients with earlier identification of critical findings, faster intervention and more connected care.
Last year, the health system partnered with generative AI company Abridge, which offers genAI for clinical conversations to reduce provider workload by automating note-taking. The software was directly embedded into Sutter's Epic EMR system.
