Hackensack Meridian Health unveils AI-powered platform to expand primary care

Hackensack Meridian Health is looking to make it easier for patients to get the care they need.

Hackensack Meridian Health, in partnership with K Health, has developed HMH 24/7, a new virtual health platform. Dr. Daniel Varga of Hackensack Meridian, left, and Ran Shaul of K Health say the platform will offer more access to care.

The New Jersey health system is launching “HMH 24/7,” a new, AI-powered platform. Hackensack Meridian is teaming with K Health, a New York healthcare technology company, to offer the service.

Hackensack Meridian says the platform is designed to revamp primary care for patients. Patients will be able to have a virtual appointment with a physician around the clock. But the health system says the platform will also make it easier for clinicians to follow up with patients who need additional care, schedule appointments, or order prescriptions.

Daniel Varga, MD, chief physician executive of Hackensack Meridian Health, tells Chief Healthcare Executive®, that the push to craft a more advanced virtual care offering came from the system’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as more patients returned to in-person appointments, the system realized many people appreciated the options of virtual care.

“What we realized very quickly was patients in the community loved the model,” Varga says.

Hackensack Meridian, which operates 18 hospitals and more than 500 healthcare locations, plans to launch the service in the fall.

The health system has offered virtual care options in the past, but they were largely limited to times between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Varga says.

“The real advantage here is, this is 24/7 access to the HMH Medical Group,” Varga says.

Officials say the new platform will offer more convenience for both patients and clinicians. HMH 24/7 utilizes AI tools to automate data entry, enabling doctors to focus more on the patient. Physicians will have the patient’s full electronic medical record in front of them.

K Health has also worked with Cedars-Sinai to develop AI solutions aimed at primary care. Varga says it made sense to partner with K Health to develop the new platform.

“We knew it would be a really difficult proposition for us to do it alone,” Varga says.

Ran Shaul, co-founder and chief product officer of K Health, says Hackensack’s patients are looking for easier access.

“They want more of Hackensack. They want more of their physicians,” Shaul tells Chief Healthcare Executive®.

Before the physician begins talking with the patient in a virtual appointment, the platform's AI technology will “converse” with the patients, Shaul says. The AI technology will gather information about the patient’s symptoms and doctors will get a summary they can view right away.

“It’s all composed for the physician. This is what we consider to be useful AI,” Shaul says.

Varga said the AI-driven platform is “phenomenal.”

“You've got an enormous amount of data already compiled, which allows you to go through your heuristics and everything else, and then do a focused conversation with the patient, and then really talk about diagnosis and treatment going forward, as opposed to spending tons of time in the visit with simple data gathering. So it really does let the clinician live at the top of their competency level,” Varga says.

The relationship consists of more than K Health doing virtual care for Hackensack Meridian. K Health’s doctors are members of the Hackensack Meridian Health medical group, Varga explains.

Hackensack Meridian and K Health have worked closely together on the development of the platform, Varga and Shaul say.

They say H2H 24/7 is about more than just a virtual platform.

“This is changing care delivery,” Shaul says.

“I think you're going to see a lot of differences in the way we do readmission, the way we do post-discharge from the hospital, the way we do chronic care management,” he continues. “I think we’re unlocking a strong power. When you have a physician 24/7 you are now able to do things that the care delivery of the old ways of just brick and mortar cannot just do.”

As Varga explains, a patient could go to a Hackensack Meridian emergency department, and a doctor with the HMH 24/7 service could follow up the next day to check on the patient. The 24/7 doctor could also schedule an in-person appointment with a primary care doctor or a specialist, if needed, Varga says.

Robert Garrett, CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health, has been a vocal proponent of the potential of AI in healthcare. Speaking at the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition in March, Garrett said he sees AI eventually improving the health of billions of people by detecting disease earlier and developing drugs and vaccines more quickly.

In a statement, Garrett said the HMH 24/7 platform will make it easier for patients to get access to primary care.

“Our partnership with K Health couldn’t be coming at a better time, as the clear shift in primary care is uncovering the need for hybrid models that seamlessly connect virtual and in-person care across the care continuum,” Garrett said in a statement. “We know patients want virtual care, but understanding how to deliver that in the context of a larger health system is where HMH 24/7 stands us apart.”