Photo: Morsa Images/GettyImages
Infinitus announced it is partnering with IBM to bring agentic AI into the specialty pharmacy arena and other healthcare organizations.
With IBM’s backing in implementing agentic AI into specialty pharmacy workflows, Infinitus said it will have the ability to streamline complex administrative and clinical conversations at scale.
The aim, according to Infinitus, is to help patients start therapy more quickly and stay on it for a more extended period.
Additionally, the alliance will help specialty pharmacies lower cycle times for prior authorizations and benefit verifications, verify that patients access therapies and financial assistance quickly, and build trust via safe AI.
"By integrating Infinitus' AI agents with IBM Consulting's deep healthcare expertise, we are making it dramatically easier for patients to access life-changing treatments, guiding individuals through every step, around the clock, and eliminating the frustrating complexity that slows care," Ankit Jain, CEO and cofounder of Infinitus, told MobiHealthNews.
"This partnership is changing the economics of specialty pharmacy, freeing up staff and accelerating access to patients so that they can start and stay on therapy without delay.
"Our collaboration with IBM Consulting brings agentic AI into specialty pharmacy workflows, enabling 24/7 support and personalized guidance for every patient. We are not just streamlining administrative tasks; we are transforming how the industry delivers care at scale, helping more people access therapies faster and with less friction."
THE LARGER TREND
In August, Develop Health, a benefits verification and prior authorization platform, secured $14.3 million in Series A funding, bringing its total raise to $17.6 million.
The company offers an EHR-integrated generative AI platform for medication access, which includes insurance verification and prior authorization package generation and submission.
Develop Health used the funds to partner with digital health companies to help with navigating the pharmacy benefit space into the medical benefit market, as well as companies outside of digital Health, and expand its integrations into EHRs and PBMs.
In June, Infinitus announced an expanded partnership with Salesforce, which allows joint customers to invoke Infinitus' voice AI agents to complete and automate complex administrative healthcare tasks.
Through this partnership, Salesforce and Infinitus customers launched purpose-built healthcare AI agents through Infinitus' Agentforce and MuleSoft connectors to verify coverage for drugs, pharmacy and medical benefits.
That same month, Mandolin, a platform that uses AI automation to enhance access to specialty drugs, announced it secured $40 million in funding.
Mandolin offers an AI-enabled workflow automation platform for use in the administrative side of specialty drugs. Its AI agents assist with intake, prior authorizations, benefits and revenue cycle management.
The company used the funds to grow the team, primarily focusing on world-class engineering and customer implementation talent to serve the needs of its customers more deeply.
In April, Infinitus announced the first patient- and provider-facing voice AI agents created for use cases where trust is critical.
According to the company, the Infinitus voice AI platform was built to ensure patients' and providers' trust in AI agents that can transform the patient experience with accurate, around-the-clock access to provider- or payor-curated expertise.
In March, ASHP's Gina Galanou Luchen, director of digital Health and data, and Scott Anderson, director of member relations for the section of pharmacy informatics and technology, told MobiHealthNews that the use of AI has a substantial positive impact on the time a pharmacist can spend on clinical activities and patient interactions.
Luchen and Anderson pointed out that the potential of AI to automate low-level tasks, such as initiating prior authorizations and analyzing coding in the electronic health record, allows pharmacists to shift their focus to direct patient care.
