What You Should Know:
– SwitchPoint (made up of veteran healthcare leaders with experience at Intermedix/R1 RCM and others) launches a new technology venture, Polaris Health that leverages AI to predict patient demand and create efficient clinician schedules that align with this demand.
– Polaris Health’s solution utilizes proprietary machine learning algorithms to predict provider demand, distribute clinician resources to meet that demand, and optimize clinician schedules. It caters to physicians and nurses alike and is applicable to any practice area or specialty.
SwitchPoint Ventures, an innovation enabler making artificial intelligence (AI) investments in organizations that seek transformation through machine learning. today announced the launch of Polaris Health, an AI-driven health IT company with an all-in-one solution that predicts provider demand volumes and produces optimal clinician schedules.
Predicting provider demand has long plagued healthcare administrators focused on cost reduction activities. In fact, according to a Healthcare Financial Management Association study, labor expense is the number one priority for hospital CFOs seeking to reduce operating expenses.
Polaris Health Inception
SwitchPoint Ventures built Polaris Health’s core technology in collaboration with PhyMed Healthcare Group, the physician-led and owned anesthesia services leader, to address their desire to better optimize clinical staffing, both from a provider satisfaction and cost efficiency perspective. The resulting AI-powered technology developed through the PhyMed collaboration gave birth to Polaris Health.
Prediction and Management of Physician and Nurse Scheduling
Polaris Health’s solution utilizes proprietary machine learning algorithms to predict provider demand, distribute clinician resources to meet that demand, and optimize clinician schedules. It caters to physicians and nurses alike and is applicable to any practice area or specialty.
How it Works
Utilizing proprietary artificial intelligence algorithms, Polaris solves the healthcare staffing problem in three steps
1. Predict Demand: intelligently predicts the number of physicians and nurses needed to meet patient demand for up to four weeks in advance
2. Distribute Resources: improves efficiencies by scheduling existing provider resources optimally and reducing reliance on costly flex labor providers
3. Optimizes Schedule: optimal schedule that balances provider preference, organizational policy, and regulatory constraints
Management Team
Polaris Health will be led by Dr. Sam Clemmons, an emergency medicine physician who has more than 25 years of experience growing and leading operations for independent physician groups, including American Physicians Partners.
“When I was introduced to the Polaris technology, I knew I had to jump on board,” says Dr. Clemmons. “As a clinician, I have personally experienced the frustration of being given suboptimal schedules that don’t support a healthy work-life balance. As an operator, I understand the difficulty in balancing care coverage while containing costs.”
Dr. Clemmons and his team will continue to be backed by SwitchPoint Ventures, the venture studio led by healthcare data science veterans that launches artificial intelligence-powered businesses by pairing its expertise in AI with the industry expertise of respected organizations.
