AI-enabled Provider Recs to be Offered by Walmart

Walmart said this week that it has teamed with Health at Scale, a business based in San Jose, California that utilises predictive artificial intelligence to assist patients find doctors based on their health requirements. The new software, according to the vendor, will deliver individualised physician suggestions to Walmart employees and their families who are enrolled in the company’s health plan and work in places where Health at Scale is available.

One of the most essential health decisions a patient makes is choosing the proper practitioner. It’s also one of the most difficult. The patient-provider match is what we really need to improve. Representatives from Health at Scale stated they couldn’t say when or where the service would be provided. By the time this article went to press, Walmart had not responded to any questions. Walmart health plan administrator’s search engine and virtual care referrals for workers in select areas will use Health at Scale’s technology, according to the company.

According to the companies, the idea is to make it easier for plan members to discover physicians who are most suited to their health requirements and history of care. Health at Scale’s service, according to the company, combines AI and machine learning to simulate variances in provider outcomes across thousands of health parameters encompassing 25 specialties, 34 procedures, and imaging.

The startup, which was formed by MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and the University of Michigan’s machine-learning and clinical staff, intends to enhance individual health outcomes by directing patients to clinicians. When Guttag spoke as a keynote speaker at the HIMSS Big Data and Healthcare Analytics Forum in October 2016, he emphasised the potential for AI and machine learning to improve healthcare efficiencies and quality.